


Three Men and A Little Lady

by texaskid



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, De-aging, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Kid Fic, Slice of Life, Some comics cannon, Some movie cannon, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-06-03 10:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/texaskid/pseuds/texaskid
Summary: It was a normal day at the Avengers Tower, relaxing, training, just hanging out, until a protest changes a team member. Left in the care of Bucky Barnes with help from Sam and Steve, while Tony and Bruce work to change her back, the little girl is all about fun. Will they ever figure out how to fix her and do they want to?----Inspired by the question from 2016's Wizard World Comic Con where Mackie said he wanted to remake Three Men and A Baby with Sebastian and Evans.





	1. Protest turned Riot

* * *

“Ms. Amy, Mr. Stark is calling for you,” FRIDAY called over the intercom at Avengers’ Tower.

“How many times do I have to tell you it's just Amy?” the young blonde asked. “Anyway, put him through.”

“Kiddo, look out the window and tell me what you see,” Tony's voice came through the speakers. 

Amy pulled herself up off the couch and walked over to the window. Her stomach dropped a bit as she looked down. Forty feet up was not as scary as seventy or eighty stories but it was still enough to spike her nerves. Heights just made her super nervous. She shoved down the fear and focused. There were a bunch of people in front of the building some of which were holding signs. Definitely protestors. “All I got is protestors, but that's not unusual. Ever since you and Cap blew up the accords--”

“You're the one that blew up the accords and got them to rewrite it,” Tony corrected.

“Yes, well leaking footage of the U.S. Army and then General Ross trying to blow up slash capture the Hulk and breaking Harlem as well as footage of them making the decision to nuke New York was one of my better ideas. Then leaking the part of the Accords that talked about throwing violators into a deep, dark pit, it kinda makes people angry. All I wanted to do was have an international treaty not violate at least 8 of the U.S. Constitutional Amendments so I thought that having them make adjustments to it was the best course of action. I also thought it would calm them down. I guess I was wrong,” Amy sighed.

“They feel angry?” Tony asked.

“They always do.”

“Angry enough to warrant our intervention?” 

Amy rolled her eyes but picked a few people out of the crowd and using her powers, she read their minds. Though Wanda was better with emotions, she could tell they were angry. That's what Hydra making you into a telepath did. “Not angrier than usual. No homicidal thoughts.” Then there was a bright flash of light outside causing Amy to throw her arm up and cover her eyes. That's when the thoughts turned even angrier. “Can I take that back?”

“What?”

“Their thoughts … they've … They're going to riot.”

“Boss, there are weapons in the crowd,” FRIDAY piped up.

Amy searched the crowd and confirmed FRIDAY's analysis. There were people throwing trash and bottles at the front of the building. “I think we should lock down the building and get Cap down here.”

“Working on it.”

“And these windows …”

“Reinforced, bullet resistant. It'll take more than a Hulk to break them. I'd never put your safety in danger.”

“Thank you. Cap, can you hear me?” 

“Loud and clear, Doll,” Steve answered.

“We're going to have a riot. What do we do?” Amy asked. Both Steve and Tony could hear the fear in her voice. The crowd kept growing and was staring to block the street which could get very dangerous. “There are more people joining the crowd. These guys have baseball bats, hockey sticks, I think they're even using garbage cans. I really hope they don't have guns. My God, is that a potato gun?” Amy asked.

“Security has locked down the tower, Boss, and local law enforcement is on the way,” FRIDAY cut in.

“Banner and Bucky are coming down to help Evac the bottom ten floors then Buck'll come to you. Try to calm the crowd, Amy. Tony, suit up we're going to need crowd control. Sam's going to get a bird's eye view. I'll see if they'll listen to some reason,” Steve said. 

“Pep talks, you're good at that,” Amy said. She focused on the crowd below her and picked out some people at the back of the crowd. Usually she just focused on their happy memories and with a little concentration, they'd calm right down. Then she'd make them think they forgot something or had to go somewhere. Unfortunately she could only do it to about five people at once. This time though, it only worked for a moment or two before they'd get worked up again by someone else in the crowd. She tried to contact more at a time but she could tell that doing it that way took more energy and the dull throbbing of the beginnings of a headache made her cut it back to five. She also did her best not to listen in on Cap's speech. It was most likely a rousing speech, one that definitely would have motivated a lot of people, but it would distract her from her job.

“How's it going in here?” Bucky asked from behind her.

She startled a bit, not hearing him come in but glanced back at him before focusing back on her job. “Not well. I get a few calmed down and move on but they just go back to being angry. I don't think I'm making any progress and the crowd keeps growing. There's gotta be some way to confine them until the police show up because I don't think Cap's speech is working well either. It's almost like they don't want to calm down,” Amy explained.

“Stark, you got a plan for confinement?” Bucky asked.

“Working on one that's not lethal,” he answered.

“Doesn't your suit have some kind of net?” Amy asked.

“Never needed one before now.”

“Falcon?” she asked.

“I've got nothing either. The only one with nets is Barton but he's halfway around the world,” Sam answered. Clint, Natasha, Wanda, and Vision were on the other side of the world helping with something highly classified. In fact if it wasn't mission reports they were turning in to Steve and S.H.I.E.L.D., they were radio silent.

“You think the arrow is in the armory?” Bucky asked. Amy had mostly given up on trying to change minds as her plan b began to form in her head.

“What are you going to do? Chuck it like a spear?” Sam asked sarcastically.

“Worth a shot if he's got the only bow,” Bucky answered. 

“His old one is still here,” Amy said. “Tony made him one that's lighter and that transforms into a bo staff for close combat fighting.”

“Not to rain on anyone's parade but Barton is the only one who can draw his bow. It's like Thor's hammer,” Steve commented.

“I swear that thing is DNA locked,” Tony added.

“That's not exactly true. You're just mad you can't draw it, Tony. Besides you need the bow to deploy the arrow.”

“Then who else can? If you tell me Nat—” Though Tony left the sentence hanging, Amy got the gist. 

“I'll get back to you. FRIDAY, cut the coms,” she said. “I've got an idea. It's crazy, but it just might work, if I can get the courage,” she said to Bucky.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, following her out of the room and to the elevator.

“Something incredibly crazy and I'm not sure I can do it, but I have to try right?” 

As the elevator ascended, Bucky pulled her into his arms. “You are amazing, strong, and brave. Whatever you have planned, you can do it, and I'll be right here if you need me.”

“Barton taught me how to draw his old bow.”

“You want to fire it. That's not crazy.”

“It is, since to give it enough time to deploy, I have to fire it from the roof.”

Bucky swallowed. The roof was more than ninety stories in the air and to fire it she'd have to look nearly straight down. A guarantee to induce vertigo and send her nerves into overdrive. He really didn't want to do that to her, especially since he had caused her enough nightmares to last a lifetime. “No. You don't have to do this. Stark will come up with something else. You have nothing to prove to me.”

“It's about proving it to myself. We all have to face our fears sometime. I can do this,” Amy told him. 

“Are you sure? I know Cap's got something.”

“You're going to try and stop me? Tell me, when T'Challa and the Wakandan scientists got that programming out of your mind, did they take the shutdown code out too? Even if they did, I can still shut you down with one thought.”

“I'm not going to stop you. I'm supposed to be protecting you and I've failed before. I don't want to fail you again.”

“Handsome, you are amazing and you have not failed me. You once said courage is—”

“Accepting that you're scared and doing what scares you anyway,” he finished the quote. “That didn't mean that I wanted you to conquer your fear all in one day.” She was terrified of heights and the entire team knew it. Sometimes she even had problems just pushing the button for any floor above the third in the elevator. It wasn’t as bad as it used to be but Bucky wanted to do his best to protect her any way he could.

“You don't think I'm brave enough.” The elevator stopped at the armory.

“You know that's not true, Kobik. After the crap Hydra put you through, made me put you through, I think you're plenty brave. I just think … I don't like seeing you scared.” He grabbed her arm and cupped her face. “You are so brave and I have complete faith in you.”

“Miss, Mr. Stark is calling again,” FRIDAY cut in.

“Find me that arrow. FRIDAY, put him through,” Amy said first to Bucky then to the AI.

“Kid, what do you have because I can guarantee that my back-up plan won't keep people from getting hurt,” Tony said.

“Something crazy that I might not be able to do but I gotta try,” Amy answered.

“Try what exactly?”

“You'll see in a few minutes. Can you get them corralled on the west side of the building just north? I won't be able to shoot it straight down but it's good enough. Pack them in as tight as you can.”

“On it,” Tony said at the same time Steve answered “sure.”

“ESU is three blocks out,” Sam commented.

“Have them come up Park. Block them in from that side,” Tony said. Amy could virtually hear Sam roll his eyes. As they were standing on Park Avenue, of course they'd have to come up that road to block them in.

Bucky brought Amy the arrow and bow and they made their way to the roof. She stepped out of the elevator and her heart dropped into her stomach. Her heart rate spiked and Bucky put a gentle hand on her back. “Right here. Won't let you fall. I promise,” Bucky told her.

“Kid, if you can't do this, I can call Spider-Man,” Tony told her. “Shouldn't take him too long to get here.”

Amy looked at the edge of the wall and then up at Bucky. Her pupils were dilated, her heart and breathing rate nearly double, and her nostrils were flaring. All of that a sure sign she was starting to panic about the height. “Kobik, we can find another way," Bucky told her.

She took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. Spider-Man could most definitely web them up and save their problems but it would be close to an hour before he could get there from Queens unless one of them flew there to get him. “Tony, he's coming from Queens, he'll never get here in time. I can do this,” she assured them.

“Okay, you can do this. I'll be right here behind you,” Bucky said. He wanted to help and tried to give her all the courage he could manage.

“FRIDAY?” Amy said.

“Yes, Amy,” the AI said.

“Can you play Clint's words from right before I shot an arrow for the first time?”

“Searching,” she answered. As the computer searched, they walked to the edge of the roof, skirting gently around the pool. Both her heart rate and breathing increased even more. “Speech cued up.”

Amy nodded and nocked the arrow, keeping it pointed at the ground for the time being. Unlike Clint who slid the arrow through the middle between the bow and string to nock it on the opposite side of his draw hand, Amy nocked hers on the same side for two reasons. First, she shot with the opposite hand as Clint's, he was a lefty most of the time meaning that the arrow rest was on the right side of the bow and she was a righty. Second because nocking it on the same side, she felt, gave her more control of the arrow and its direction of flight. Clint's voice came out of the speakers as she tried to even her breathing. Her eyes dropped to the roof. _“Alright, kiddo, take a deep breath and slowly let it out. Nock the arrow and lift the bow. Extend your left arm all the way and keep your grip loose but not too loose. You want it to be comfortable in your hand. Take another deep breath in and draw the bow string back. Anchor it just behind your jaw bone. Let out that breath and release. You want to make sure you release between the breaths so your breathing doesn't shake your aim.”_ Though Clint anchored his arrow and draw at the corner of his mouth, like most other archers, she was shorter and didn't have quite the same reach with her front arm so she had to anchor it further back when she used his bow.

With Clint's voice and advice ringing in her ears and Bucky's body heat behind her, but not in her way, she did as Clint said and drew the bow. She then released the arrow into the crowd. Just after she pressed the button on the grip to deploy the net, she was hit in the chest with a bright green light. She stumbled back, right into Bucky's waiting arms. He spun her around and wrapped her in a hug.

“I got you. You're safe now, I promise,” he breathed into her ear.

“Go inside?” Amy asked using her free hand to grip the back of his shirt tightly. Bucky nodded and scooped her up, taking her back to her room via the armory where they dropped off the bow. Bucky gently set her down on the couch and she pulled him down with her. He planted his metal arm against the back of the couch to keep from fully falling on top of her. “Stay?” she asked.

“Clean up--” Bucky started.

“Let them handle it. Please, Soldat? I need you,” Amy said softly. Bucky sighed and collapsed the rest of the way onto the couch, shifting his weight more onto the couch than on top of her, nuzzling against her ribs. She stroked her hands through his shoulder length hair. “Thank you for supporting me.”

“I love you, and that means supporting you is what I do.” Bucky slipped his metal arm between the small of her back and the couch as she pulled her phone out and sent an encrypted email to Clint with the subject line _'I did a thing’_ and an attached copy of the video clip of what she had done. He'd be proud. She smiled down at Bucky as his eyes dropped closed.

“You know, I really thought I was going to die the first time we met,” Amy muttered.

“Oh?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah. I saw your file. Well, back then I couldn't really read but I saw in her head what my doctor knew and I was terrified. I was 10 years old and they wanted me to test powers I barely had control over on the Asset. I was sure I was going to die.”

“I was never instructed to kill you.”

“What?”

He looked up at her and smiled softly. “I know that the team, both this one and the one back then, told you about me. How I had been under Hydra control since the 40’s and that I shaped history, but did they ever tell you about the late 40’s/early 50’s? My first mission was in the 60’s. I fought back against their control for over 15 years. Even when I didn't know anything else I knew that something was wrong. Their order that day was to push you. I know they expected me to hurt you or take you out, but since they didn't say to kill you, it wasn't an option. All those missions, they said _“don't be seen. Take out the target, get the info,”_ but if they weren't my target, I didn't have to kill them. If the wording was even the slightest bit off; sometimes the most literal instructions are the only ones I'd follow.”

“Like when you didn't kill Nat when you had the chance?” Amy asked.

“My job was to follow and report, dispose of if necessary but I was never ordered to kill.”

“I love you.” Though it was random, she meant it and it seemed like the only thing to say at that moment.

He lifted himself up and pressed a kiss just under her jaw line before settling back down pressing an ear to her chest. Something was sounding a little off with her breathing but it was also his favorite place to lay; right where he could hear her breathing and heart rate. “When I saw you the first time, saw a picture of you in your file, something shifted in my mind. I didn't know it then, but that look on your face reminded me of Steve. They told me to push you but I felt like I had to protect you," Bucky said.

“And you haven't failed since.”

“That's debatable,” he muttered.

She tugged on his hair a bit to make him look up at her. “Buck, I'm alive and mostly unharmed. I've seen some things but nothing you and I haven't been able to work through.”

“Yeah, you're right.” As they lounged on the couch, Amy started to drift off. “Hey, don't do that. Why don't you go get a shower and I'll make some dinner. Then we can watch some TV and get some sleep?” She smiled down at him then nudged him so he’d get up and she could as well.

The following morning, she woke up groggy but hungry. Bucky was no longer in bed with her but that wasn't unusual. He was a man who rarely slept and often got up early to go running. Amy shook herself awake then stood and made her way to the common room, rubbing her eyes. As she walked out of the elevator, FRIDAY turned the windows into a view of flowers in a meadow. Since she was so afraid of heights, Tony came up with a protocol that hid the view of the city to make her less aware of the height. If she was more awake, she would have noticed what was so different about this morning compared to others. Instead she was focused on whether or not Steve was making pancakes. He wasn't in the kitchen of the common room but Bucky looked at her oddly.

“What?” she snapped.

“Where did you come from?” he questioned.

“You're nearly 100; do you really need that talk?” 

“FRIDAY, get everyone up here, now.” His voice was panicked and it worried Amy. Not much spooked the man so when he was it was concerning. Then something else struck her.

“Why is everything so tall?” she asked. Amy looked around and everything from the counter to the appliances to Bucky seemed to be feet over her head.

“Buck?” Steve asked, stepping off the elevator.

Bucky could only motion to Amy who finally stopped rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Cap?” Amy asked, seeing the strange look on Steve's face.

“Hi there. What's your name, sweetie?” Steve asked, crouching a bit.

“You know my name,” she deadpanned.

“Humor me?” He was trying to be gentle and keep a smile on his face not to scare her but there was something in his eyes that had alarm bells ringing.

“Amy. Amelia Grace Portland. Your friend? Dating your best friend. Any of this ringing a bell?”

“Ok. Have you looked in the mirror today?”

“No. I just really wanted pancakes, so I came up here but no one's making pancakes.”

“Come with me for a moment.” Steve walked over to the window and Amy followed, stopping a few feet away. “I know it's scary but I won't let you fall.” Amy took a deep breath and stepped up to the window where the illusion melted away. There was Steve reflected in the glass in his post-workout shower comfy clothes and next to him stood a little girl wearing the same shirt Amy had worn to bed the night before. It was a pun on Iron Man. It said [Female, The Original Iron Man](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/388998486560158140/?lp=true). The Fe looked like the element from a periodic table. It was also red and gold, just like his suit. Tony hated the shirt but Bucky loved it.

“Nice trick.” Amy glared up at Steve. Despite her words, she was starting to doubt that it was a trick. Like with Bucky, Amy usually came up to his clavicle, but now she noticed she only come up to his waist. Looking around, she noticed he seemed to fit in with the rest of the room but when she looked down she saw her shirt dropped to her knees and there were two little bare feet against the wooden floor where her feet should be. She tried wiggling her toes and the little ones she was looking at wiggled in response.

“Not a trick, that's a reflection.” Steve knelt next to her. Amy's hand shot out and cupped his cheek; she vaguely noticed how small the hand looked against his cheek as she searched his mind with her powers. Though she could do it without touching him, it was easier and faster to read his thoughts with skin-to-skin connection. She found no hint of a lie or trick. She looked back at her feet then at the ceiling and knew it was no lie or trick. At least the reflection wasn't a trick.

“Loki, I know you can hear me. I swear if you are screwing with me, I'll make any previous torture look like a cake walk.” It was then that her eyelids felt like they had twenty pound weights attached to them and the room began to sway around her. Her stomach turned somersaults and she pitched forward. Her head would have smacked the ground if not for Steve's quick reflexes.

“What do we do?” Bucky asked panicked.

“Maybe Bruce knows?” Steve answered. “FRIDAY, where's Dr. Banner?” 

“Research Lab.” Both Steve and Bucky got into the elevator with Steve carrying Amy, and went up to Bruce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this while it was the 4th of July (Steve's birthday) everywhere in the world. Turns out that's not possible. The timezone that turns the fourth first is 26 hours ahead of the timezone that turns the fourth last. Oh well, at least it's the fourth in most parts of the world.
> 
> Sorry if the banner is crappy. I'm a way better writer than artist. If anyone wants to make me a better one I'm fully okay with that. I will totally credit you.


	2. The Little Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they figure out what to do with the little girl and get some background information.

“Doctor Banner is in the Research Lab.” Both Steve and Bucky got into the elevator with Steve carrying Amy and went up to Bruce.

“Dr. Banner—” Steve said, approaching the scientist.

“I think we've known each other long enough that you should be calling me Bruce.”

“Of course, Bruce. I don't know if you have an MD, but something's wrong with Amy.”

Bruce looked around but didn't see the young woman. “Where is she?” he asked. Steve lifted his arms a bit as if motioning to the little girl and Bruce nodded. “Oh I see. Set her down on the couch. I thought Amy was blonde?” 

Steve walked to the deep red couch that sometimes served as a bed and placed the little girl on it brushing a red lock from her face. “I thought she was too. Maybe when she was younger?” Steve sort of asked. He looked over his shoulder at both the scientist and his best friend.

Bucky sighed as he watched the little girl. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his shoulders slumping. “After S.H.I.E.L.D. rescued her from that Kansas Hydra facility, she'd spend hours staring in the mirror and then one day just started avoiding it like the plague. Her grandparents eventually realized that the girl she saw in the mirror, the red hair, dead eyes, and no trace of a smile, reminded her of the girl she was when Hydra had her. Her grandmother dyed it blonde and they began to convince her that she was stronger. They told her that if anyone asked the blonde could come from her paternal grandmother though she didn't remember the woman,” Bucky explained. 

After Amy had been rescued and after Bucky's trial, and later clearance from S.H.I.E.L.D., Bucky had spent several years with Amy and her family as that also helped her. It wasn't until Amy's late teens that Bucky had become more involved with the organization and had stepped away from Amy. For four years she didn't see all that much of Bucky. Not until one night he had shown up back in Boston from New York looking worse for wear and telling her they had found Steve. 

“It's more ginger than red though,” Bucky mentioned.

“So what happened?” Bruce asked, pulling out his med kit from under the desk. Sometimes he kept it on hand even when Tony wasn't in the lab. He stepped over to the couch and began to run a physical exam on the girl.

“Well, she was about five when Hydra—” Bucky started.

Bruce cut him off. “Yes, I know about that. I mean what happened to cause this … this … deaging?”

Bucky shrugged. “We don't know. She was fine after everything yesterday, understandably drained, but fine and we went to bed. When I woke this morning, she was buried under a mountain of covers and when she came up for breakfast, she was like this. She had all her memories but she was really tired and groggy,” Bucky explained.

Steve filled in the rest of the story eventually finishing with, “then she looked down at her toes and wiggled them before she collapsed.”

“Well, her heart rate and breathing seem normal and she doesn't appear to have any injuries, but I'll run some tests and have Dr. Franklin double check them. We'll let you know what we come up with,” Bruce told them. 

“Thank you, Bruce,” Steve said. He and Bucky went back to the common room and waited for word. “Hey, did you really think he didn't know what happened to her with Hydra?”

Bucky sighed. He wasn't sure how much Amy had told Steve, being that Steve had still been frozen when Amy was both kidnapped and rescued, and Bucky didn't want to break her confidence, but he knew Steve had to know some of it. “It was Peggy's final mission. She had mostly been retired from S.H.I.E.L.D, leaving field work to Fury and office work to Pierce, but when Fury's team successfully returned from Hydra with us, Peg was there at the hospital and then the safe house. The report of what happened, the Hydra file on Operation Kobik, her medical records, they were kept in one file, all paper, none of it to see the light of day. I'm not sure how much any of you know about her time with Hydra,” Bucky said.

“At the very least we know they had her for five years and turned her into a telepath. Some of us know more but only because she's told us.”

“Did you know Operation Kobik was supposed to be used to create a control for the Winter Soldier? They wanted a permanent handler someone who would never turn. One who I couldn't … he couldn't disobey. One that could stop him no matter what.”

“Yes. She told me that and I've seen her do it. Stop you with a thought when Zemo …” Steve shook his head.

“They took the name Kobik from a Swiss organization that essentially translates to cybercrime control. It’s called Koordinationsstell zur Bekämpfung der InternetKriminalität. Definitely a mouthful.” Bucky laughed humorlessly. “Get it? Cyber control?” He lifted his cybernetic arm.

“Yeah. Did she know about the others?” Steve asked.

“No. They were before her time and on ice in Siberia. The American and Siberian branches were well separated. I only came to Kansas because of how high Strucker was in Hydra.”

They lapsed into silence and continued to wait for news from Banner. When they did get news and return to the lab, Banner was working on something on a tablet. He handed it to Bucky who was the more technologically advanced of the two. Bucky scrolled through the test results on the screen. “As you can see all of her tests came back normal, matching the tests we've run on her for physicals in the past. Even her DNA is the same. She is for all intents and purposes a normal, healthy four-year-old.” Bucky could see that. Both windows on the screen were the same minus the date. Then Bruce was speaking again. “The only test that came back different,” he reached over the tablet and pulled up her full skeletal x-ray then he zoomed in on her left arm, “is the x-ray. Her left arm doesn't show signs of a prior break,” the doctor explained. He pointed to a darker white spot on her left forearm in one picture then the other there was no such spot.

“Well, if she's reverted back to how she was at four, her arm hasn't been broken yet,” Bucky said, looking at the x-ray. “Hydra broke it when she was nine. They wanted to see if the serum they gave her enhanced her healing factor. I'm not sure if they broke it on purpose or if it just happened while they were training her. Knowing them it’s the former.” 

Steve had been watching the results over Bucky’s shoulder and finally looked up at Bruce. “You said she's been returned to herself at four. Does that mean she no longer has the serum in her blood?” Steve asked. “That she no longer has her powers?”

“No, she still has the serum and her powers from what we can detect, but the rest of her is like she's four again.”

“Why four?” Bucky asked.

“I don't know. She is still unconscious, so we don't have a picture of where she is cognitively, we'll have to wait for her to wake up and see if she still has her adult memories but if she doesn't, you'll need to come up with a backup plan,” Bruce explained. “We also don't know what turned her like this, how long it will last, or how to turn her back. I will continue to run tests but for now we just need to wait for her to wake up.”

Time ticked by slowly as they sat by Amy's bed and waited. Dr. Franklin had rolled in a gurney when he had come in so they would have something firm to work on and had transferred her from the couch to the gurney. Now they lowered the gurney to the same level as the couch cushions so she wouldn’t fall off, or if she did fall it wouldn’t be that far to the ground. Finally her green eyes fluttered open. She instantly locked eyes with Bucky who was sitting on the couch. “Hi,” she squeaked out.

“Hey, Doll. Can you tell me your name?” Bucky asked.

Her answer had him clamping his hands over his ears. “Stranger Danger!” she almost screamed.

“Sh, sh, shhh. It's all right. I'm friends with your grandfather," Bucky tried to reassure her. Both Bruce and Dr. Franklin rushed over. They tried to calm her as well but when nothing worked, Dr. Franklin gave her a slight sedative and she drifted off. 

“So that answers that question. She obviously doesn't remember any of her adult memories. At the very least, she doesn't remember us,” Bruce said.

“What's Stranger Danger?” Steve asked. In all his catching up, he had never come across that phrase and Amy had looked absolutely terrified when she had said it.

“It's a misguided media and educational program in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s to alert children to the danger of strangers despite the overwhelming evidence that most abductions, abuse and assault to children comes from family or friends,” Bruce explained.

“I think it's best if when she wakes up the first person she sees is Steve,” Bucky said.

“What makes you think she'll recognize me when she clearly didn't recognize you?” Steve asked, looking bewildered.

“Because I don't look like I did 70 years ago. You on the other hand, do. Even with the beard.” 

Steve sighed but sat on the edge of the couch as Bucky stood and moved away. When Amy did wake again she panicked, looking around the room, until her eyes landed on Steve. “I know you, right? I think Pop-Pop has a photo of you? You're the Captain. You saved his life,” Amy said nodding to herself. 

“Steve Rogers. They call me Captain America,” Steve introduced himself. It was almost the exact same way he had introduced himself the first time he had met her a few weeks after Loki’s attack. 

Amy sat up and put her hands in her lap. “Pop-Pop said you died in a plane cash.” Her bright green eyes blinked at him. 

“I did crash a plane but the serum in my blood kept me alive. I was just uh …” Steve watched her for a moment, not sure what to tell her.

Amy looked around the room and didn’t see her grandfather nor did she see a room she recognized. “Where's Pop-Pop?” Amy asked. “Where am I?” She turned her gaze back to Steve.

Dr. Franklin and Bruce walked back up at that point. “Hi, Ms. Amy. My name is Doctor Franklin and this is Dr. Banner. Can you tell us what you remember?” the older man asked.

“'Member 'bout what?” She blinked up at him, tilting her head to the side.

“What's the last thing you remember?” Bruce asked.

“Going to bed. It was late and Pop-Pop said that if I didn't go to bed I'd miss Gammie's pancakes in the morning. I love Gammie's pancakes though Pop-Pop calls them flapjacks.”

“And what day is it?”

“Yesterday was kiss-mass. Pop-Pop and Gammie came over and we had turkey ‘cause I don't like ham and the General was der and Uncca Jim. They didn't stay for dinner dough. They have their own families even dough their families were ‘vited too. Auntie Peggy's supposed to come over today and I haven't seen her forevah.”

“What else did you do with your grandparents?” Steve asked after glancing back at Bucky who was still standing in the doorway.

“We watched a lot of TV, Pop-Pop loves the old movies in black and white. His favorite is Scrooge. I like the one with the angels. Mama doesn't like when I watch it because she says I'm not old enough but Pop-Pop says we don't have to tell her. After dinner, Pop-Pop puts on music and he and Gammie dance. They have so much fun. Sometimes Pop-Pop picks me up and lets me dance with them and he'll sing me to sleep. I like dat. Gammie says he sings like a cat stuck in a bucket but I like it. Where is Pop-Pop?” she asked again.

“Sweetie, I don't know how to say this, Christmas was six months ago. It's May,” Steve said as gently as possible. He didn't like what he was about to do but knew it had to be done. Lying to a little girl could backfire on him badly especially if they fixed her in the next couple days. On the other hand, explaining what happened would be difficult and he wasn't sure how much she would understand it or if he could even put it into words she'd understand. Best to go with a little, white lie. “Your grandfather asked us to look after you for a while, that's why you're here.” That much was true. Steve knew that Amy's grandfather had asked Bucky to look after his little girl. However he knew that would lead to her wondering why and it’d have to be a bigger lie.

“Is Mama sick again? That's why I had to go stay with Pop-Pop and Gammie for a while. Mama was sick and couldn't take care of me.”

“Yeah. Your grandfather had to go look in on her so he asked us to watch you. Said you'd be safe with me and my friends.” Steve held his breath as she considered his lie. Technically he was only agreeing with her and no one was stopping him so he figured it was alright.

“Is that your friend?” Amy looked past him to Bucky.

Steve glanced back at Bucky, giving him a fond smile. “Yes. He is also friends with your grandfather,” Steve answered.

“How come I don't 'member it's not kiss-mass?” Amy asked. She looked so little and lost in just her Iron Man t-shirt.

“Uh …” Steve wasn’t sure what to say here. Thankfully Bucky saved him.

“You fell. Doctor Bruce says you'll be fine though,” Bucky supplied, moving slowly into the room.

“If it's May then dat means I forgotteded my birfday.” Amy looked down at her lap and toyed with her fingers. “I'm five, you know? Pop-Pop says that means I can go to pee-school in da fall but I don't want to go,” she said softly.

“Well, that's still a few months away so you don't have to worry about that right now,” Steve said.

“Mr. Captain, why am I not wearing undies?” Amy asked softly, not looking up.

Steve looked at Bucky not sure what to say. Bucky thought quickly and came up with something. “You just got out of the bath and I got a shirt on you before you ran and slipped. You hit your head which is why I brought you to see the doctors,” Bucky said.

“So what now?” Amy asked. She looked up at the four men and blinked. 

“Now we …” Bucky trailed off unsure. That's when Sam slipped in the room.

“FRIDAY said you guys were up here. What's going on … Oh, I see. Hi, Sweetheart,” Sam said. He smiled at the little girl on the gurney. He didn’t know why she was here or who she was but it had to be big if she had Bruce, Steve, and Bucky surrounding here without a trace of a parent. He knew she didn’t belong to Doctor Franklin either because the man only had a son who had two boys, all of which lived out in Arizona.

“Are you a friend of the Captain's too?” Amy asked.

“That's my friend Sam. Sam, this is Amelia,” Steve said. Amy waved.

“Hi there. Guys, can we talk outside?” Sam asked. He really wanted to know what she was doing here and who she belonged to because if he looked hard enough that she kinda reminded him of Nat but Nat couldn’t have kids and there was no other redhead on the team.

“Stay here, sweetie, we'll be right back,” Steve told her. He stood and the men exited. Amy played with the hem of her shirt as she waited. Outside Steve filled Sam in. 

“Not my first thought. She kinda reminds me of Nat or maybe a redheaded, female version of Clint. Something about those eyes. Does Stark know?” Sam asked.

“He's handling the fallout from the riot yesterday. There are a lot of people claiming feelings of anger that came out of nowhere,” Bruce said.

“So do we know why she's like this?” Sam asked.

Bucky shook his head. “She doesn't remember anything after Christmas ‘95. I didn't see anything yesterday out of the ordinary,” Bucky said.

“What's our next move?” Bruce asked.

“We need to find out why she's like this and until we do and figure out how to change her back, we have to look after her. Does she have any living family? They should be notified. Just in case.” Steve asked.

“A mother she doesn't speak to, a father she hasn't seen since she was two, and a grandfather who I'm not willing to pull in just yet. He's older and he won't take it well if he finds out we let this happen,” Bucky explained. “But would it be such a bad thing not to change her back? Give her a chance at a childhood she never got to have.”

“You know she wouldn’t want that. Let’s focus on figuring this out before we worry about whether or not we should change her back,” Bruce said.

“Well then—” Sam started but he was interrupted by the door opening and the little girl looking up at them. Her hands were twisted in the hem of her t-shirt and her toes were pointed inwards. She looked almost ashamed of interrupting them. All five men looked down at her.

“Mr. Captain, I'm hungry and I gotta potty,” Amy said softly.

“Right,” Steve said but he still looked lost.

Sam knelt in front of the girl. “I didn't get to meet you properly. I'm Sam Wilson but you can call me Sam.” He stuck his hand out and she instantly dropped her t-shirt.

“Amelia but everyone calls me Amy,” she answered slipping her hand into his.

Sam smiled and she let a bashful one cross her face. “Well, come on, Ms. Amy, we'll find you a potty and then how about some pancakes?” She nodded vehemently. “Up?” Sam asked, putting his hands out. Amy lifted her arms and Sam picked her up.

“Since you've got that under control, we're going to—” Steve started.

“Nope, you two are going to start the pancakes. Your girlfriend, your teammate, you're helping. Dr. Banner, Dr. Franklin, thank you for your help,” Sam said.

“Mr. Sammy, I gotta go,” Amy whined.

“Okay, okay.”

“I'll let you know if I find anything else," Bruce said. Sam nodded and the three men went to the common room. Sam took Amy to the bathroom while Steve and Bucky went to work on breakfast.

“Do you need help?” Sam asked, looking at her. Amy nodded. When they returned to the kitchen they found Steve making the pancakes and Bucky cooking bacon. Sam set her down on the island and she crossed her legs, pushing her shirt between her legs to make sure she wasn't showing anything.

“I help?” Amy asked.

“No, thank you,” Steve answered. “It's almost done.”

“Okay, off the counter,” Bucky said as they plated breakfast for her. 

“She won't be able to reach from a chair,” Sam said. Bucky sighed and put the plate in front of her. She picked up the fork and looked at the pancakes.

“Syrup?” Steve asked as Bucky put a strip of bacon on her plate.

Amy nodded. “May I have butter and whipped cream too?” Amy asked shyly.

“Sure, kid,” Bucky pulled the whipped cream out of the fridge and got the butter from the table. After adding both to the pancakes, Amy still looked at them and made no move to eat them. Her grandfather had warned her to never eat something that wasn’t in bite size pieces. She could choke on them but these were big men she didn’t really know and she didn’t want to interrupt them or seem needy. “What's wrong?” Bucky asked.

“Pop-Pop said …” Amy looked up at him then shook her head and dragged her fork through the whipped cream. It dawned on Sam as he watched her, especially since his nephew was the same way. He wouldn’t ask for something unless you prodded him to. He took her plate and cut the pancake into small pieces. “Thank you.” She ate the pancake quickly but still didn't touch the bacon.

“Don't you like bacon?” Bucky asked.

She looked at it sadly. It was almost as if she was trying to work herself up to eating it. When she looked up at him she didn't look as sad but he could see it. He could tell she was putting on a brave face. “I'll eat it. You make it for me, I'll eat it.” She nodded.

“If you don't like it you don't have to eat it, sweetie,” Steve said.

“No, no, I'll eat it," Amy insisted.

Bucky beat her to it and snatched it off her plate, scarfing it down before she could protest. “How about another pancake then? I made little ones just for you,” Steve said.

“Please?” Amy asked.

Steve smiled and placed a few silver dollar sized pancakes on her plate. Soon she was full and looked at Bucky. She smiled and Sam took the plates putting them in the dishwasher. “I'll clean up here, you clean her up; she's got syrup everywhere. Two nieces and a nephew and I still don't know how they do that,” Sam said. He shook his head in disbelief.

“Why do I have to give her a bath?” Bucky asked, confused.

Sam stepped up to the island and put his hands over Amy's ears. “Do you really want me to see your girlfriend naked?” Sam asked. 

Bucky considered it. Though she was currently little, Sam had a point. Amy was still his girlfriend. “But she's so little and what do I put her in? What if I hurt her?” Bucky asked. He was trying to hold off his panic. 

“She'll be fine. Just make sure you keep the shampoo out of her eyes and put another shirt on her. I'll find something to use as underwear and then I'll take her shopping for the rest of her clothes. If you're so worried, Cap can help you.” Sam let go of Amy and stepped back. Bucky sighed but reached for Amy as if to pick her up under her arms. For half a split second Sam considered letting Bucky make a rookie mistake but knowing it would earn him Steve’s eyebrows of disappointment, he offered some advice. “Do you want syrup all over you?”

“No.” Bucky stopped before touching the little girl.

“Then do this. Amy, you want to fly like Superman?” Amy nodded excitedly. “Stand up and put your arms out.” Amy did as he asked, putting her arms out in front of her. “Now, put one hand on her chest and one on her waist and lift," Sam instructed.

Amy flew through the air and eventually landed beside the bathtub in Bucky's room. He got her out of her t-shirt and filled the tub halfway. “Can I call you Buckaroo?” she asked.

“How about just Bucky?” he asked, putting her in the tub.

“Kay,” she answered. He grabbed the bottle of soap and a soft cloth and began to wash her. “Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, why does the Captain have syrup in his blood?”

“What?”

“Syrup. He said it's what kept him alive from da plane cash.”

“Oh, serum. It's like … like magic juice. He used to be this tiny, little thing with a lot of problems and then they gave him the serum and it made him grow and get better and apparently survive plane crashes.”

“Does Pop-Pop know he's still alive?”

“Well, he did drop you off with him.” As much as Bucky hated lying to Amy he knew that the real story wouldn't make sense to her young mind and didn't want to go through the explanation of it all several times. Plus he didn't know how to explain it to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, let me know what you think. Thanks.


	3. Bear-Vengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a little shopping is done.

After making sure the girl was clean, Bucky pulled her out of the bath and wrapped a towel around her then set her on the closed toilet. “Sit. Right here. Do not move,” Bucky ordered. Amy nodded and sat still until Bucky returned. When he did, he picked her up and took her into the bedroom sitting her down on the bed. Sam came in and held up a cloth and two safety pins.

“You ever diapered anyone?” Sam asked.

“I don't remember. I think I might have had younger sisters but I don't know.”

Sam sighed but quickly folded the cloth into an old fashioned cloth diaper and looked at Bucky. “Put her right over the middle, fold the bottom part up here and then fold these around her waist and attach the safety pins,” Sam instructed.

“Okay, do—uh, kiddo, come here.” Amy stood up keeping the towel closed and looked at Bucky as Sam turned his back. Bucky did as Sam told him and then asked him, “That okay?” Sam peaked over his shoulder to see Amy sitting in just the diaper and checked it. The towel was lying behind her on the bed and her red hair was curling slightly against her shoulders.

“That will work. Now, how about a shirt?” Bucky pulled out the smallest shirt he could find and handed it to Amy who pulled it on then pulled her hair out of her collar. “Might put a coat on her too,” Sam said. Bucky sighed but dug through his closet to see if Amy had left any of her hoodies in there. He came up with a zip up one she didn't like to wear anymore. He put it on her and saw she was covered from shoulders to knees but didn't have anything in the way of shoes. “Alright, let's go, lover boy, we're going shopping.”

“No way. I step out those doors; it'll be a media circus in a heartbeat. They'll recognize me in a second but since you spend most of your time upstate with the new team, they'll never expect you to be with her and they won't question you with a kid,” Bucky answered.

“Fine.”

“Mr. Buckaroo—” Amy started.

Bucky cut her off. “I told you, Bucky's fine.”

“Kay. Where are my clothes?”

“Your clothes?”

She nodded quickly. “If Pop-Pop went to take care of Mama and wanted Mr. Captain to take care of me, didn't he leave clothes?” She tipped her head to the side, curious.

Bucky’s mind scrambled. There had to be an answer that would make sense. “It was … uh, real short notice so Sam's going to take you out to get more clothes.” That made sense and was actually true.

“What happened to the ones I was wearing?”

That was a question he wasn’t expecting. “Uh … you um …” Bucky stammered.

Sam came to his rescue though. “We were playing in the park and you fell into a mud puddle so your clothes got all dirty and as we were coming home you lost one of your shoes and that's why you were in the bath,” Sam explained.

“Oh, okay.” Amy nodded. It made sense despite it being a total lie. Sam offered her a hand and she jumped down from the bed and took it. As they stepped out of the elevator into the foyer of the tower, Sam pulled on a baseball cap and pushed on some sunglasses before swinging Amy up to his hip. 

“Mr. Wilson, would you like me to call you a car?” the receptionist asked.

“No thanks, we'll walk.”

“It's starting to rain, it would be no problem,” she pushed.

“No, thanks. It's really only a couple of blocks.” Sam pulled the hood of the hoodie up over Amy’s head and they stepped outside. By the time they made it those couple of blocks to the shoe store, it had started to rain more steadily and Sam had shifted Amy to his back, tucking her feet into his jacket pockets to keep them warm. The associate in the kids' department came over as he sat her down on a bench next to some shoes. 

“Hi there, my name is Mindy, what can I help you find today?" she asked.

Sam eyed her warily from behind his sunglasses, especially when she flinched seeing Amy not wearing socks or shoes. “We're looking for some socks and shoes. We were at the park and next thing I know she's chest deep in the mud. She's my niece and her mom's coming to pick her up in an hour. We were on our way home when I noticed she was missing a shoe. Also since her mom is coming in an hour I don't have time to wash her clothes but I do have enough to buy her some new ones.”

“I see. Well, socks are a couple rows over so why don't you go see if you can find some and I'll see if I can find her shoes she'll like.”

Sam watched the girl for a moment then knelt in front of Amy. “I'm going to go find you a pair of socks. If you feel uncomfortable or scared or you need me for anything, you just call, okay?” Sam told her. Amy nodded, smiling politely.

Sam walked off and Mindy knelt in front of her. “Is he really your uncle?”

“He's friends with my Pop-Pop. I call him uncle.” Amy shrugged.

“Pop-Pop is your grandfather?”

“Yeah, he's a war hero and a 'mando.”

She wasn't sure what “'mando” meant but Mindy sure understood war hero and really didn't want face down an angry one of those. “Okay, what color shoes do you want?”

“Dinos.”

“Are you sure you wouldn't want pink or princesses?”

“Dinos,” Amy insisted.

“Okay. I'll check and see. I'm not sure though.” Mindy stood and began looking for a pair of shoes with dinosaurs on them. She found it a little odd that the little girl wasn't wearing any shoes or pants even though the man's story did make sense. It also seemed odd to her that the girl wanted dino shoes but she knew sometimes girls liked typically boy stuff. There weren't any dino shoes that she could see but she did see a pair of princess shoes she was certain she could talk the little girl into. Every little girl liked princesses. She grabbed the pair and walked back to the girl who was waiting patiently right where they had left her. She knelt down and pulled a shoe out. “I know it's not dinos but look how pretty they are. See there's Aurora and Belle and Jasmine.”

“I want dinos,” Amy protested.

“We don't have any dinosaurs.” Mindy rubbed Amy's knee and Amy smacked her hand away.

“Amelia Grace, no hitting,” Sam scolded, putting his sunglasses on top of the bill of his cap.

She looked up to see him approaching. “Sorry,” she pouted.

“Now, what's wrong?” Sam asked, crouching in front of the little girl. 

“I don't want princesses, I want dinos. Don't like pink," Amy answered. Sam shot Mindy a pleading look and she got up to look again. Meanwhile Sam looked at Amy.

“So I found you a pair of socks,” he said, holding them up. “Should fit you just fine.” He pulled one sock from the packaging as she held up her feet. Sam put it on her foot. “Told you. Perfect size.” He pulled the other sock out and slipped it on her foot making sure he held on to the packaging for later purchase. He began to look around and spotted red, white, and blue ones that reminded him of Cap’s shield. “What about these?” he asked offering them to her. “Just like Cap’s shield.”

“It’s okay but if I can’t have dinos, I’d like purple please,” she answered.

“Like the Hulk’s shorts?”

“Who’s the Hulk?” Her head canted to the side again and Sam smiled.

Then he realized what she said. How could anyone not know about the Hulk? After a moment he realized that Bruce hadn’t turned into the Hulk until nearly 10 or so years after her memory ended. Back when she was actually this age there was only one superhero, Captain America. “He’s … Oh right, after your time. You know how Captain America is a superhero? He’s not the only one. There’s a whole lot more called the Avengers. Sorta like an Earth’s Mightiest Heroes kinda deal.” Sam pulled out his smartphone which Amy stared at then he smiled. Smartphones; another thing that hadn’t existed in1995. “This is a really cool telephone that lets me use the internet too. That’s like a really big encyclopedia where I can look all kinds of things up. Like this.” He pulled up a photo of the Avengers from a recent promotional photo op. Then he pulled up a photo of the Hulk. 

“I like that color,” Amy said, pointing to his pants. 

“Okay, how about these?” Mindy asked, coming back with plain purple shoes. Amy nodded and Sam helped her put them on.

“My toes are squished,” Amy complained.

“Hop up,” Sam said. She stood and Sam checked the size. Sure enough, he could feel her toes pressing right against the end of the shoe. So they tried two sizes up which fit just right. 30 minutes later they were walking out of the store with Amy’s feet clad in brand new purple shoes. Sam picked her back up and they crossed the street when the light changed and into the clothes store they went. Sam grabbed a basket as he put Amy down and led her through the store to the girls’ department. The first thing he was looking for was pants. If he could get a handle on that size then he’d be able to get her underwear and then they could get to the more fun stuff. Nearly an hour and a half later, they walked out of the clothing store and headed back towards the Tower with Amy dressed in one of her new outfits. One that definitely had dinos on it.

On their way back to the tower they cut through the main concourse of Grand Central Station as it was shorter than walking clear around plus there was a toy store Sam wanted to stop by. His nephew’s birthday was coming up and Amy had been so good he wanted to get her something special. “I want you to remember what we did in the clothes store, okay? Hold my hand or pants' leg tight and stay by me. I need to pick up a present for my nephew, okay?” Amy nodded to Sam’s order and took his hand. It didn’t take Sam very long to find a gift so they made their way to the checkout counter. As they did, they passed a Bear-vengers display which instantly had Amy tugging at his hand. 

“Look, it’s the Hulk as teddy,” Amy said.

“That it is,” Sam answered, stopping next to her. He knelt on one knee and pointed out a few others. “There’s Cap and Iron Man too.” 

Amy looked over the display and a hint of blue behind all the rest caught her eye. She let go of Sam’s hand and reached forward digging it out from the back of the display. “Bucky Bear,” she cooed softly. He was dressed in his blue Commando’s uniform with black pants and boots and his fur almost matched Bucky’s hair color. She began to stroke the top of the bear’s head staring at it almost reverently. Sam was shocked at how gentle she was and how familiar with the bear she was. It was almost like he was an old friend. He hadn’t mentioned anything about Bucky when he showed her the picture of the Avengers.

“You know Bucky Bear? Do you want him?”

“No, thank you. I have one at home. Pop-Pop got him for me. Said he’d protect me like the rest of the ‘mandos.” 

“That’s cool.” Sam knew a lot of people who told their kids or grandkids stories of the Howling Commandos, most of who fought in WWII or those who were Shield Agents, but he didn’t realize that Amy’s grandfather would be one of them. 

“Who’s dis?” Amy asked, drawing him out of his musings. He noticed she had put the Bucky Bear down in the front row of the display right next to Cap Bear and was currently holding his Bear-venger up looking up at him with her wide, innocent eyes.

“That’s Cap’s best friend, Falcon. He can fly and everything, like a real falcon. Even has his own sidekick, Redwing.” Sam took the bear from her and showed her the little mock drone on its back. She smiled. “Tell you what? Since you've been so good today, I'll let you pick one to take home.”

Amy stared at the Falcon Bear then touched the Cap Bear. Her little face screwed up in concentration as though she was trying to decide between the two. She hugged Falcon first and then put him down on the other side of Cap from Bucky and picked up the Cap Bear to hug him as well. She put him back down between the two and held his paw and took Falcon's paw as well. “Can't decide?” Sam asked gently.

“I don't want them to feel bad,” Amy answered softly. “Cap is popular and has been around a long time but Falcon is cute too and I don't--” Amy looked down.

Seconds ticked by in silence. “I know I shouldn't but,” Sam sighed softly as she looked up at him blinking and trying not to look hopeful, “get them both. Can't leave them behind. Besides Bucky Bear needs some friends.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sammy.” She picked up both bears and hugged them both tightly, a look of pure happiness crossing her face. It made Sam smile. He loved making kids happy, plus he was billing everything to S.H.I.E.L.D anyway. Hazard pay for protecting the city and all. After paying for the bears and his nephew's gift, separately of course, he lead her through the station to a secret door that led into the tower so they could bypass the usual receptionist and head straight for the elevator.

They got upstairs to find Bucky watching a movie which he shut off when he noticed them. “What did you do, buy out a clothes store?” Bucky asked, seeing all of Sam's bags.

“No, I figured she'd go through a lot so I made sure she had enough. And if it's temporary, we can donate it all,” Sam said.

“Look, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, Mr. Sammy bought me Bear-vengers. Dis is Falcon and this is Cap.”

“You didn't get White Wolf?” Bucky asked.

“Who's White Wolf?” Amy asked. She looked from Bucky to Sam.

“Bucky Bear's alter-ego,” Sam answered.

“I have a Bucky Bear but,” her voice dropped as she looked down sadly, “I leaved him at home.”

“You do? I'm sure he's taking care of all your other toys,” Bucky smiled, pulling her up onto the couch with him.

“Did you figure out her sleeping situation like I asked?” Sam asked Bucky, setting the bags on the coffee table.

“I've got that extra room in my quarters. FRIDAY is sending a new bed up for her. So Amy, did Sam here tell you about the Avengers?”

“Just that they are superheroes. The Hulk, Cap, Iron Man, and Falcon.”

“He didn't tell you about the rest?” Bucky asked. Amy shook her head. So Bucky explained them to her along with their alter-egos.

“You're White Wolf? That's awesome," Amy said.

“Yeah, and Sam here is the Falcon.”

“Mr. Sammy, do you actually have a pet bird?” 

“Not a real one, he's a robot. I can show you later.” Just then Steve walked in.

“Hey, Am--Millie, look who I found,” Steve said, holding up the bear he had picked up off her nightstand. Sam had texted him as they rode up in the elevator to see if he could find the bear. The more Steve tried to think of the little girl as Amy the harder it got. She didn't remind him of the tough girl that had helped both him and Bucky through hard times. This girl was happier and didn't seem to be able to tell what he was thinking.

Amy looked up and grinned. “Bucky Bear!” she cheered. “Where you find him?”

“Downstairs. You must have left him down there when you came in,” Steve answered. Steve tossed it to Bucky who caught it and handed it to Amy. Though her arms were barely big enough to hold all three stuffies, she pulled Bucky Bear into her arms and hugged the three of them tight. It didn't escape Steve's notice that the three bears were of the three men taking care of her.

“I sorry Bucky Bear, I won’t do it again,” she told the bear and kissed his head.

“Did you order the rest of the stuff?” Sam asked as he and Steve dropped into chairs.

“Booster seat for the table and car, bath stuff, dishes, more toys than I probably should have, sheets, night-light just in case, and I filled Tony in. It'll all be delivered over the next couple hours to Bucky's place,” Steve answered. 

Bucky's eyes landed on Amy as she played with the three bears when she suddenly stopped and put Cap and Falcon down to pick up solely Bucky Bear. She held him close to her face as if looking for something. “Something wrong, kiddo?” Sam asked.

“No,” she answered but she sounded unsure. She stared deep into the bear’s eyes then put him aside with the other two and stood on the couch. She moved to straddle Bucky's lap, standing carefully on the cushion and pushed his hair back out of his face. Then she grabbed his cheeks and squished them together for a moment. She pushed his lips up into a smile then his hair fell back into his face. She started to wobble on the unsturdy cushion and Bucky's arm instantly wrapped around her waist to keep her steady as his other hand pushed his hair behind his ear. The whole while Amy had been studying his face. Now, she lifted her hands and pushed up on his eyebrows as if to widen his eyes and rested her forehead against his, staring into those blue eyes. Her eyes widened and she pulled back sharply and Bucky had to tighten his grip to keep her from falling. “You're Sergeant Bucky Barnes. Do you have syrup in your blood too? Is that how you lived? ‘Cause Pop-Pop says you died too.”

“He's got what?” Steve laughed. He was sure the little girl had just asked about syrup in Bucky's blood.

“I told ya, kiddo, it's serum not syrup. You put syrup on pancakes; Steve and I have serum in our blood that makes it harder to kill us.”

“But you're … You're him. Bucky Barnes. You saved Pop-Pop's life in the war. He says you are amazing.”

“Your Pop-Pop saved my life too. He's pretty great,” Bucky said. Both Sam and Steve looked at him. Neither one of them knew who her grandfather was but they knew that Bucky had lived with them for a while. Bucky only shrugged. Not his secret to reveal.

Amy plopped down in his lap causing him to flinch at her landing. “You're Pop-Pop's second favorite 'mando.”

“Who's his favorite Commando?” Steve asked.

She looked over at him and her face screwed up again. “Uh … um … Dum Dum.” It was always hard for her to remember his name.

“Don't get a lot of those,” Bucky said.

“And do you have a favorite?” Steve asked. Amy shook her head. She reached over and picked up Falcon Bear and began humming as Sam clicked on the TV to something kid friendly but kept the volume low. Amy rested her forehead against Bucky's shoulder as she began singing to the bear softly and playing with its ears. Though he was mostly paying attention to the TV, Steve's ears picked up on the words about halfway through the first chorus as Bucky began to rub her back and he turned to look back at her. “Is that Irish?” he asked.

“Sounds like it,” Bucky answered. He tipped her head back up to look at him. “Little One, who taught you that?”

“Gammie. Says her Mommy sang it to her at bed time and her and Pop-Pop sing it to me,” Amy said.

“Your grandmother is Irish?” Steve asked.

Amy nodded against Bucky's hand. “She moved here when she was little. Great Grandpop didn't want to go back to war. He almost died during the first one.” 

“Oh,” Steve nodded. Bucky let her go and she leaned back against him as he continued to rub her back. She was out in minutes. “Anything you want to tell us?”

“About what?” Bucky asked.

“Her. Her family.”

“It's not my secret to share. If she hasn't told you yet, then there has to be a reason.”

“And if it just never came up?”

“Then it didn't come up.” Bucky shrugged.

“What didn't come up?” Tony asked, plopping down on the couch.

“Nothing.”

“What am I sitting on?” Tony reached under him and pulled out, “Captain Ameri-Bear?" he asked skeptically. “What no Iron Bear?”

“Her pick and yes, I pointed out your bear but she wanted that one,” Sam said.

“Her who?” Tony asked. Bucky motioned to the little one in his lap, turning her slightly so Tony could see her face and she was leaning back against Bucky's flesh arm. “Right. You know, like that she kinda reminds me of Nat.”

“How's that?” Bucky asked.

“The red hair, tough expression. Just in general, I don't know. Did we manage to figure out how this happened?”

“Not yet.”

“I did.” They looked up to see Bruce in the doorway with a tablet in his hands. “I went back through the footage from the riot when she was on the roof. She was hit by a green light.” He transferred the video to the big screen TV. “There, just before she falls backwards.”

“FRIDAY, analyze where that could have come from,” Tony ordered.

“Analyzing," FRIDAY answered. “Boss, the only building tall enough with an angle on the roof is 432 Park Avenue.”

“That's New York's tallest residential building and it definitely has a view of the roof,” Tony said. It appeared on the screen from an aerial view.

“Did you ever figure out where the feelings of extreme anger came from?” Bruce asked Tony.

“No. You think they're related? What happened to her and the riot?” Tony asked.

“Do you have footage of the entire riot/protest? Whatever we're calling it?” Bucky asked.

“FRIDAY, put it up,” Tony said. The footage played and they watched. “Overlay the audio from yesterday in the Tower.” They listened and watched and Tony saw it. “Back it up.”

_“Not angrier than usual. No homicidal thoughts,” Amy's voice came through the speakers_ . There was a bright flash on the screen. _“Can I take that back?”_

“That right there. That flash. Maybe that's what made them angrier,” Tony said. “They weren't homicidal until that flash. Right after that she told me they were going to riot.”

“But the two flashes couldn't have come from the same building,” Sam pointed out.

“Why not?” Tony asked.

“FRIDAY, bring up the aerial view of 432 Park,” Steve requested. It came up. “Can you rotate that view 180 degrees?” The image rotated showing the view from the residential building towards the Tower. “Well, there's definitely an angle there for the roof but as you can see there's no angle for the street and the protestors. There are a couple of other buildings in the way.”

Amy whimpered in Bucky's arms but didn't wake. “Shh, it's alright,” he told her moving his hand in soft, slow circles on her leg. She sniffled, shifted closer to him and settled back down.

Steve turned their attention back to the conversation. “You're right. The only other building tall enough is the Chrysler Building but that'd be the wrong angle.” From the video, the green flash came from North West side of the building and the Chrysler Building was to the South East.

“What if they weren't in a building?” Bucky asked.

“You're talking like a helicopter or a plane?” Sam asked.

“It's the only other option, isn't it?” Bucky said.

“Unless there was more than one. I'm going to go look into this, you should find her a place to sleep,” Tony said. He stood, taking the tablet from Bruce and Bucky sighed. He smiled as he looked down at the little girl then picked her up and the other two bears, since Falcon Bear was tucked snuggly in her hands, and took her to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See https://pin.it/pandrsrvxutwqq For more photos from the story.


	4. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which nightmares occur

Amy woke later for dinner and a bath then was put to bed in the toddler bed Sam and Steve had put together. It was about three in the morning when Bucky was awoken by a soft series of tapping against his nose. Blearily, he opened his eyes to see the little red head in front of him holding tight to Capi-Bear, her arms crossed tightly over the bear. “What's wrong?" he asked, keeping his voice gentle.

“I wet,” she sniffled.

“You wet what?” he asked confused.

“No, I wet.”

“You're … ohhhh,” Bucky said as the realization splashed over him like an ice cold bucket of water. “Okay … um …” Bucky sat up. She continued to stare at him, biting her lip. Bucky wiped his eyes then ran a hand through his hair.

“Sergeant Barnes, if I may?” FRIDAY chimed in.

“Yes, please.”

“Mr. Wilson left some pull-ups and wipes in your bathroom under the sink. I would recommend changing her into one of those for the night and then a new set of pajamas before putting her back to bed after you change her sheets.” 

“Right, change her.” Bucky got her changed into a pull-up and then a shirt the bigger her often wore when she slept over before setting her down on his bed. “Is Capi-bear wet?” Amy shook her head. “I'll deal with your sheets in the morning, you can just stay here.” Amy smiled and snuggled under the sheets.

The following morning Amy woke up to find herself alone in the big bed with no Bucky in sight. She checked the bathroom, the guest bedroom, the kitchen and the living room but found no one so she walked to the front door holding tight to Cap Bear and tried the handle but it wouldn't turn. She tried again and got the same result causing her to whimper. “Ms. Amelia, I'm sorry, I can not let you out of this room.”

“Who's der?” Amy asked looking around.

“On the TV.” Amy turned and saw a picture on the screen of a generic redheaded lady. “My name is FRIDAY. I am an Artificial Intelligence built by Mr. Stark to help run the tower.”

“What's Arti-art-official Intel?”

“Artificial Intelligence is basically a really smart computer. I insist that you wait until Sergeant Barnes returns.”

“Please let me out.” Amy gave the TV puppy dog eyes.

“Ms. Amelia, I am a computer, even your biggest most convincing puppy dog eyes will not change my response. He will be back soon. Can I interest you in something to watch?”

“Do you have Cap-toons?” Amy asked.

“I will search.” Before she could answer Sam burst through the door.

“Hey there kiddo, you remember me?” Sam asked.

“I just seed you yesterday, of course I 'member you. Mr. Sammy, did you know the TV talks?”

“It's a TV, it plays sound yes.”

“No, it really talks. It answers me but not like the shows. Do it again.”

“Good morning, Mr. Wilson,” FRIDAY said through the TV speakers.

“Good morning, FRIDAY. So kiddo, how about I make you some breakfast? Some eggs maybe?” Sam asked, making his way to the kitchen.

Amy followed him staring down at the top of the bear's head.

When Sam didn't hear an answer he stopped and turned, kneeling down in front of her. “What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

Amy shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she answered.

Sam sighed as he looked her over. “Amy, listen to me. Everyone here cares about you and we’re not going to do anything to hurt you or to make you feel bad. We just want to make sure you’re safe and cared for and happy. So if there’s something you really want or you really don’t like, just tell us. No one is going to get mad, okay?” Amy bit her lip and didn’t look at him. “Please, look at me.” She reluctantly did so. “I won’t get mad, okay?”

“I don't like eggs.”

“Okay. What kind of cereal do you like?”

“Fruity-O's?” Sam stood up and checked the cabinet then shook his head. “Cheery-Loops?” Sam shook his head again. Despite having a sweet tooth and Amy spending the night as his place at least twice a week, Bucky didn't seem to have all that much sweet stuff. So Sam checked the freezer.

“He's got toaster waffles,” Sam said. “Do you like toaster waffles?”

“Toasted waffles!” Amy cheered.

“Waffles it is.” Amy was halfway through the waffle when Steve and Bucky entered the room. “So what part of you decided it was a good idea—” Sam started.

“Yes, I know. Steve's already been down my throat about it. Never leave the little one alone,” Bucky answered.

“How are you this morning, little one?” Steve asked.

Amy swallowed her bite of waffle and smiled at Steve. “I'm good, thank you,” Amy answered. “Look, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, Mr. Sammy made me waffles.”

Bucky glared at Sam. “Syrup again? Another bath?”

“You don't have any good cereal and she doesn't like eggs.” Sam shrugged.

“You could have ordered out,” Bucky told him. Sam only shrugged again. “Fine, I'll make a grocery list but there has to be healthy stuff on there. I'm not letting the kid pig out on junk food.”

“No complaints here.” Bucky put Amy in the bath after breakfast and was halfway through washing her hair when he noticed it. He rinsed the shampoo out of her hair then grabbed her left arm by the elbow. He stared in shock. There should have been two[ tattoos](https://pin.it/cyqofcmfngkgz7) on her left arm. The one in the middle of her bicep was the Howling Commandos insignia done in silver and white and above that, on her shoulder, was a star outlined in blue with the top half colored red and the bottom half colored white.

“Mr. Bucky?” she asked softly.

“It's gone. I don't believe it. It's gone.” Bucky rubbed his thumb over the smooth shoulder in disbelief. The tattoo over the scar that had been part of her for years was gone. Even the scar was gone.

“What's gone, Mr. Bucky?” Amy asked, looking down at her arm as well.

He definitely needed a second set of eyes on this. “Steve. Steve, come here," Bucky called. 

Steve bolted through the apartment and skid to a stop in the doorway. “What? What's wrong?”

“It's gone. The star, it's gone.”

Steve moved closer and looked at the little girl’s arm as well. “It's … I see.”

“Mr. Bucky, you're hurting me.” Amy whimpered.

“I'm sorry,” Bucky said, instantly dropping her arm.

“What's gone?" she asked confused. She continued to stare at her arm turning it this way and that, trying to see what they saw or rather, didn't see.

“It's um … nothing for you to worry about," Bucky answered.

“Okay.” She let go of her arm and toyed with the rubber ducky floating in the bath water.

“Come on, let's get you out of there before it gets cold,” Steve said. Amy held her arms out and Steve picked her up handing her over to Bucky who wrapped her in a towel. 

“Let's find you something to wear," Bucky said.

“Capi shield," Amy said.

“Okay, we can find something with his shield on it," Bucky agreed. Once she was dressed, he set her down in the living room with some toys and went to change her sheets from the previous night. Coming back out of the spare room, Bucky dumped the soiled clothes and sheets in the washer with some detergent and set it running. Then seeing Amy out of ear shot, he looked at Sam and Steve. “I can't believe the star is gone.”

“Well we're working with the hypothesis that she's back to the way she was at four years old and she didn't get the star until she was 16 or so. It makes sense,” Steve said.

“She was 10,” Bucky said.

“You can tattoo a kid that young?”

“It's not just a tattoo; it's a scar that was tattooed over.”

“10? You're sure she was that old?” Sam asked. Bucky shifted uncomfortably. 

“Bucky?” Steve asked. He didn't want to push his friend but Bucky seemed to want to share.

“I'm sure because … because I gave it to her.” Both Steve and Sam remained quiet. “I know she's forgiven me by now but I'm still working on it and this isn't helping reliving all this,” Bucky said.

“What do you think that Amy would say?” Sam asked.

“That it's not my fault. That I was doing what they told me to and I can't hold myself accountable for that,” Bucky said.

“And she'd be right. You're in a better place with her now and that has to count for something. Also you've done a lot of good. You're taking care of her and you don't seem to be freaking out about it. Most people would dump their now turned four year old girlfriend on Cap and run for the hills. You didn't and I know when she's back to herself she'll even tell you how proud of you she is.”

“I hate it when you're right.” Bucky felt something squeeze his right hand so he looked down. “What the—?” he asked, seeing Amy standing there.

When it was silent for a moment, Amy responded. “Gammie always says adults are having important conversations so I have to wait but I can squeeze her hand or Pop-Pop’s and when they're done I can talk.”

All three men nodded. That definitely made sense. It let the kid know that the adult understood they wanted to talk, but at the same time in a way that didn’t disrupt what conversation the adult was having. “Okay, kiddo, what is it?” Bucky asked.

“Will you play with me?” Amy blinked up at him.

The kid just looked too innocent and pure and Bucky couldn’t deny her anything. “Sure, kiddo. What do you want to play?”

“You have Army men.”

So they spent the next few hours playing and after lunch, at Sam's suggestion, Bucky put Amy down for a nap. After her nap though she came out of her room dragging a Hawkeye bear that had appeared that morning along with the rest of the Bear-vengers, no doubt as a gift from Tony. Amy found Bucky and Sam gone but Steve was sitting on the couch sketching. “Mr. Captain, what are you doing?” Amy asked.

“Sketching. It's like drawing," Steve answered, showing her the half done picture of the NY skyline.

“Me sketch too?” Amy asked.

“Sure. I think Bucky's got some crayons around here.” He put her down in her booster seat at the table and set a few pieces of paper and some crayons in front of her.

When Bucky and Sam returned from the gym, they found Amy still at the table with Steve standing behind her, his hand wrapped around hers lightly guiding her in drawing a dog. Bucky noticed that her tongue was poking out the corner of her mouth and her Hawkeye bear was watching from his perch on top of the table.

“Can I show Mr. Bucky when he comes back?” Amy asked when they finished.

“Absolutely. I think he'll love it," Steve answered. “There he is right now.”

Amy grabbed the bear and the paper and looked up at Steve. “Down please, Mr. Captain.”

“You can call me Steve if you'd like.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Steve,” Amy answered. He lifted her from the booster seat and set her down on the floor where she rushed over to Bucky. “Look, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, Mr. Steve helped me draw a doggie.”

“He's adorable.”

“Can we put him on the fridge?” Amy batted her eyes and Bucky instantly melted. Sam couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

“Sure, kiddo, whatever you want.”

“Can we have pizza for dinner?” Amy asked as Bucky swung her up on his hip and carried her to the fridge where he motioned for her to put her picture. She held it against the fridge and he stuck some magnets in the corners.

“Alright pizza it is.”

After dinner and a kid-friendly movie, Bucky took Amy to get ready for bed. Doing so reminded Bucky exactly why the idea of having kids wasn't that enticing to him every time Steve brought it up. First, she tried to run from him not wanting to change or go to bed, and for a little one she was rather fast, then she tried to hide, and when he finally caught up to her and got her into her room to get her ready for bed, she threw a tantrum about not wanting to wear a pull-up. “Come on, kiddo. You don't want to wake up with a wet bed again, do you?”

“No.” She looked down at the ground and drew a circle with her big toe.

“Then you gotta wear the pull-up. You don't wear it you're going into time out.”

“Please, no pull-up. I'll be good but no pull-up," Amy begged.

“It's just in case. You stay dry tonight and tomorrow night and I won't make you wear the next night okay?”

“Okay,” Amy reluctantly agreed. She pulled on the pull-up.

“Let's go say goodnight to bird—Falcon.” He really did need to stop calling him “bird-brain” in front of Amy. The little one didn’t need the negativity in her life.

“Otay," Amy agreed. She grinned and took his hand.

Three nights later, Bucky was coming back from the kitchen with a glass of water when he heard sobbing and whimpering coming from the guest bedroom. He pushed the door open and saw her curled up, tightly clinging to Bucky Bear. He abandoned his glass on the hallway bookcase then rushed to the bed and knelt down next to the bed. “Millie, Millie, Amelia, please wake up," He prodded, rubbing her shoulder. Her green eyes flickered open and she sniffled as she stared at Bucky. “Come here,” Bucky said, opening his arms.

Amy scooted off the bed and threw her arms around his neck still holding Bucky Bear by the ear. She sobbed against his shoulder as he tried to console her. “I lost," She sobbed. He couldn't get her to say anymore so he stood and rocked her as he walked around the small apartment. Finally he got her calmed down and tried to put her down both in her bed then his but she worked herself back up and refused to let go of him both times. He continued to bounce her and rub her back as he weighed his options. He knew that Steve or maybe even Sam would know what to do, but it was three in the morning and he didn't want to bother them by waking them. So he did his best to keep her calm. Seeing that his apartment wasn’t doing any good, he walked down the hall then up the stairs to the gym. He knew she couldn’t use any of the equipment, but it had a beautiful view and there were some old records that Steve had found, both of them had agreed that some songs just sounded better when played on vinyl than the cleaned up version FRIDAY found online. He was certain that the old records would put Amy to sleep faster than any story or movie he could drag up.

When they reached the gym, he left the light off and walked towards the window. Amy had mostly settled herself down, only sniffling occasionally. Her left arm was draped over his right shoulder and her right hand was holding tightly to Bucky Bear’s ear. Bucky guided her head to his shoulder and then rubbed her back. He was halfway to the window when he spotted a light on in what was normally Bruce’s mediation room. He changed directions and peaked inside to see that it wasn’t Bruce like he thought. Instead he heard light piano music and saw another redhead inside. Amy perked up and tracked the dancer as she glided across the floor. Bucky stood silently in the doorway for the next ten minutes, until the dancer clicked off the music and grabbed a bottle of water. 

“I didn’t know you were back,” Bucky said softly.

“Maybe an hour ago. You seen Kotenok?” Natasha asked. “Clint can’t get ahold of her and he’s been trying since noon.” 

“Yeah, there’s been a situation,” Bucky said, bouncing Amy slightly. “Millie, say hello to Natasha.” Amy pulled her hand from Bucky’s shoulder to wave shyly at Natasha, her fingers curling down into her palm and then back up a few times.

“That's …? Barton's going to kill you.”

“Stark and Banner are working on it. It's been almost a week.”

“I see, so what brings you up here at 3 a.m.?” Nat asked.

“She couldn't sleep. I think she had a nightmare.” Halfway through his sentence, Bucky felt her squeeze his shoulder. “Yeah, kiddo?”

“Down please?” Amy asked.

“Sure.” Bucky put her down and Amy handed him Bucky Bear. Both he and Nat watched as she began spinning around the room almost as if she was trying to copy Natasha's dance. “How come Barton didn't come with you if he's so worried about her?” Bucky asked.

“He finished the debrief and got a shower before he conked out. You know me, I feel more at home here than at the compound with the kids and Clint can make himself at home wherever he goes. She's not bad. Needs some training but not bad.” Almost as if she had heard Natasha's words, Amy danced back to them. She moved to Bucky's right side and squeezed his hand.

“Go ahead,” Bucky said.

“Ms. Natasha, you teach me what you did? Please,” Amy asked.

“That was ballet. I'll teach you tomorrow if it's okay with Bucky but for now you need to go back to bed,” Natasha answered. Amy nodded solemnly and lifted her arms to Bucky who lifted her. She took the bear from him and laid her head on his shoulder. 

“To bed, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo,” Amy ordered.

“Yes, Ma'am,” Bucky answered.

“Amy, did you have a bad dream?” Nat asked before they could move away.

“I don't know,” Amy said softly. She toyed with the bear’s ear and petted his head.

“It's okay to talk about it,” Nat tried coaxing.

“I don't know,” she insisted. She squeezed the bear’s paw as she avoided Nat’s eyes.

“Just drop it, Nat.” The woman nodded and Bucky took the young girl back to bed.


	5. Barton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Millie Meets Barton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way "Kotenok" means Kitten in Russian.

Clint dropped by the tower the next day while Nat was teaching Amy ballet. He found Bucky and Steve in the gym and asked for Nat. Both soldiers motioned to the other room. He stopped in the doorway as Nat corrected the little girl's stance. Then Nat put the music back on and made Amy run through the dance again.

“Did we randomly adopt a child and no one tell me about it?” Clint asked as Amy drank from her water bottle.

“Not exactly,” Natasha answered.

“Then what?” Clint asked.

Amy pranced over to Natasha and squeezed her hand then waited. “It's complicated. What is it, Kotenok?”

“Open my crackers, please?” Amy said. She held up the animal cracker package to Natasha.

“That's not how we ask,” Natasha told her.

“That's how we ask Mr. Bucky,” Amy grumbled. She lowered the package and clenched her fingers around it.

“Do I look like Bucky?”

“No,” Amy swallowed and stared at the floor. Her hands gripped the package tightly, fingers almost digging in. “I'm sorry, Ms. Nat, will you please open my crackers?”

“That's better.” Nat took the package and opened it before handing it back to her. Amy took it and pushed up on her toes then began to eat.

She looked ten times happier than she had a few seconds earlier. “Thank you, Ms. Nat. Oh, would you like some?”

“No, thank you. Can you say hi to my friend Clint?”

Amy bashfully waved to him.

“Hi there, what are you eating?” Clint asked, giving her a gentle smile.

“Ambidle crackers,” Amy answered.

“Are they good?”

“Yes, sir. Wait, are you Hawkeye? You kinda look like my Hawkeye Bear.”

“I am.”

“Kotenok, why don't you see if Bucky Bear would like some crackers,” Nat suggested.

Amy glanced back over her shoulder at the bear. “He won't. He's stuffed. Get it? Like he's full but also 'cause he's a teddy.” Amy giggled.

Nat only watched her but Clint laughed. “Oh come on, Nat, that was funny.” She smiled indulgently at him.

“What about Bucky?” Nat pressed.

“He can get his own, but I knows when I'm not wanted.” Amy hung her head and headed for the door.

Clint instantly dropped to his knees and put his hands on her hips looking her in the eyes. “Hey, you are absolutely wanted around here. Never think otherwise. We love you, okay?”

“You just meeted me. How can you love me already?” Amy asked.

“Because you're special and some people can just tell.”

“Oh? Okay.”

“Sometimes Ms. Nat forgets that not everyone is as tough as she is. Some people need a gentler touch.”

“I tough," Amy insisted. She nodded and Clint smiled. He reached up and tucked a strand of red hair that had escaped her bun back behind her ear.

“I have no doubt about that. Why don't you go see what Bucky's up to and maybe share your crackers with him? We just need to have a grown up talk that's super boring and you have better things to do.”

“Thank you, Mr. Clint.”

Clint smiled and sent her into the gym. She headed for the two soldiers, stopping a safe distance away. Steve kicked Bucky’s feet out from under him and heard a whimper. He looked at Bucky confused but he shook his head and looked past Steve. There Amy stood, her arms wrapped around herself, crackers spilled at her feet, and a terrified look on her face. Her lower lip trembled and she looked ready to cry.

“Hey, hey, no tears. I'm okay,” Bucky said. He scuttled across the mat and over to her to hug her close. “I'm okay, he didn't hurt me.”

“He didn't?" she asked. She sniffled, her face buried in his shoulder. Bucky felt bad. He really shouldn’t have been training with Steve if Amy was anywhere in the vicinity but he didn’t realize she’d feel this bad about it.

Bucky ran his hand through her hair as his metal hand rubbed her back. She tightened her grip on him and tried his best not to feel worse. “He didn't, I promise. We were just training to take on the bad guys. He'd never hurt me.”

“Pomise?”

“I promise.”

Amy pulled back from him to look in his eyes. “What bad guys?”

“Anyone who wants to hurt you or our other friends.” He ran his flesh thumb under her eyes to wipe away the tears.

“Why would someone do that?”

“'Cause they aren't very smart.”

She went silent for a few moments and looked down at her feet. Then her face crumpled again and more tears were imminent. “I dropped my crackers.” She pouted. Both she and Bucky looked at the animals around her feet.

“That's okay. Do you want a granola bar? I think Steve's got one.”

She perked up and looked to Steve who was nervously standing next to him. “Is that okay, Mr. Captain Steve?”

“First, can I have a hug?” Steve asked, kneeling next to her. Bucky let her go and completely and she turned more fully to face him.

Amy batted her eyes as she watched him. “You not going to hurt him again?”

“I promise.”

She stepped over Bucky’s leg and walked into Steve’s open arms. “Well, okay.” He hugged her rubbing her back lightly.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or make you drop your crackers. Can you forgive me?”

“Okay,” Amy agreed. “Have you met Mr. Clint?”

“I have, he's really nice. Do you like him?”

“Yes. May I have a 'nola bar now?”

“Sure, kiddo. Let's see if I can find it.” Steve went to his bag and rooted through it. “Ah-ha, here it is.” After opening it, he handed it to Amy who thanked him politely and began to eat it silently. Soon Nat and Clint joined them.

“Aw, did you spill your crackers?” Clint frowned.

Amy nodded. “Mr. Steve scared me but he gave me his 'nola bar that's very good.”

“You sticking around Barton?” Bucky said.

“I would but I'm needed back at the compound.”

“Are you finished, Kotenok? We've still got some time left before lunch," Nat said.

Amy looked at Bucky who nodded. She turned her gaze to Clint. “Mr. Clint, will you please stay for lunch?” She batted her eyes at him, trying to convince him.

“How can anyone say no to that?” Clint asked.

“You don't.” Amy grinned broadly.

“Well okay then.” Clint grinned. Amy followed Nat back into the other room and they began to dance again. When they came out Sam was standing there waiting.

“Hey there, ready for lunch?” Sam asked. Amy held her arms up to him, Bucky Bear’s paw in her left hand and he picked her up as she nodded. “I think Bucky made spaghetti.”

“I love sketties. Mr. Sam, do you think Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark will join us?”

“I think we could ask them.”

“And Ms. Nat too?”

“She's already heading that way with Clint.” Sam headed for the elevator to go to the labs where Bruce and Tony were. “Bucky says you had a nightmare last night. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don't remember.”

“It's okay to talk about it. I won't tell anyone and maybe it'll make you feel better.”

“I don't 'member.”

“It's okay to not remember, but I'll always be around if you do want to tell me about it.”

Her mouth quirked up on one side and Sam kept both hands under her bottom to keep from dropping her. She put Bucky Bear in her lap between them as her right hand rested on Sam’s shoulder. “I was lost,” she admitted softly. “They couldn't find me. It was dark, like a closet and they were yelling for me but I didn't know where they were or where I was. I couldn't see the door either.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, but then Mr. Bucky woke me up and I was okay.” She blinked up at him and smiled.

“I see how that can be scary but we won't let anyone keep you from us.”

Amy leaned into him. “Thanks, Mr. Sammy.”

They reached the labs and found Bruce and Tony pouring over something in front of them. “Gentlemen,” Sam said as he slid Amy to his hip.

When they didn't turn around Amy cleared her throat dramatically, “Gentlemen,” she said, copying Sam. Both turned as Amy giggled. “Hi. I know you're busy but will you come eat sketties with us?”

“Sorry, kid, we're real busy right now. We'll get something later," Tony said. He went back to his work as Bruce looked away.

Normally that would have been enough for her to leave it alone but she felt like he needed a bit more prodding to give in. “Put me down, please?” Amy asked. Sam set her down and she pushed Bucky Bear into his arms. He reluctantly held the bear as she walked to the far side of the table. “FRIDAY, can you turn on Beetoeban?” Amy asked. The same song that played earlier in her dance class played again and she began to dance. Once the song stopped, Amy pranced over to the table and rested her chin on it then gripped it with her fingers. Bruce watched her, occasionally glancing at Tony out of the corner of his eye. Tony did his best to ignore her intense look as he kept working. She began tipping her head back and forth. Bruce and Sam did their best to keep from smiling at her antics.

“Kid, I got work to do,” Tony insisted.

“It's just sketties, Mr. Stark. Please?” He looked at her and was instantly hit by the strongest puppy dog eyes that had ever been aimed at him. “If you are really busy then that's okay, but I'd like it if you came.”

“Come on, Tony, can you really say no to that?” Bruce asked.

“You’re trying to manipulate me,” Tony said, staring at Amy.

“I don’t know what that means,” she told him but pouted at the look he was giving her.

“How does anyone say no to you?” Tony asked.

“They don’t.” Amy grinned triumphantly.

“Alright, kid, you win. Sketties it is.” Amy cheered and came around the table to take his hand. Then she began dragging him towards the elevator. He dragged his feet as she tried her hardest to pull him along quickly. When she realized that wasn't working she stopped and he nearly fell over backwards. She turned and gave him a knowing look. “I deserved that.” He scooped her up and tossed her into the air before catching her and setting her on his hip.

“Thank you, Mr. Tony,” Amy said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Sure, kid.” In the Common Room he put her down in her booster seat as Sam set her bear on the coffee table and then Bucky slid a plate of spaghetti in front of her.

Thirty minutes later, Tony stood and put his plate in the dishwasher. “Are you going back to work?” Amy asked, looking up at him.

“Yeah, it's really important. I need to get it done," he answered, crouching next to her chair.

“Okay. Thanks for coming.” Amy leaned over and planted her sauce covered lips against his cheek.

“Kid,” Tony groaned.

She laughed, a massive grin on her face. Tony wiped the sauce off his cheek, wiped it on a napkin then ruffled her hair. 

“When I figure this out, we'll do something together.”

“Okay but don't forget to eat and sleep.”

“Whatever you say, kid.” Tony left the room and Amy finished her lunch.

“Can we watch 'laddin?” Amy asked as Bucky wiped her face and hands.

“Sure,” Bucky said. “Go get comfy, I'll get FRIDAY to pull up the movie.”

“Mr. Clint?” Amy asked as Bucky lifted her from her booster to set her on the floor.

“Yeah?” Clint answered, standing and handing Natasha his plate. She reluctantly took it and went to the sink.

“Will you watch with me? I know you said you had to go, but please stay,” Amy begged.

Clint thought it over for a moment then sighed. “I guess there's nothing really important there. Nothing that can't wait.”

“Yea! Can I go get my bear?” Amy asked.

“He’s on the table,” Bucky said.

Amy looked at it and shook her head. “My other bear,” she answered. She grinned up at him and he huffed but nodded.

“Why don't I come with you?” Clint asked. He stuck his hand out and Amy took it. They took the elevator to Bucky's apartment where she looked over her toy bears. When they came back, Amy had her arms wrapped around Hawkeye Bear.

“Really?” Sam asked skeptically.

“I stayed in the living room. She picked him all by herself,” Clint told him.

“Mr. Sammy?” Amy asked confused.

“Hey, it's just a toy and she's five, let it go,” Steve called.

“Yeah, alright,” Sam answered.

Amy plopped down on the couch between Bucky and Clint as the movie began to play. The deeper into the movie it got, the more she scooted towards Clint and by the time the final song was playing she was laying on top of Clint, hand curled tight in Clint's shirt, fast asleep. He pulled the hair tie from her bun then unwound the bun and slowly ran his hand through her hair. She curled further into him and sighed happily. Clint smiled closing his eyes. Bucky, on the other hand, watched, trying not to get angry. Clint was a friend and he didn't mean any harm. The girl obviously felt comfortable around him and she seemed to be sleeping well and Bucky knew she needed the sleep. The movie ended and they turned the TV on low as most of the rest of them dispersed leaving Bucky and Clint alone.

“I know she's your girl. I don't want to infringe on that, but she's my … friend too,” Clint said. For a moment, Bucky was certain that wasn’t what Clint wanted to call her but he wasn’t sure what word would have fit better there.

He sighed. “I know. Just like I know I should be focusing more on her getting sleep because of the nightmare last night.”

“And you know she still loves you and at this age probably worships you too. Her granddad spoke very highly of you and the Commandos.”

“I know that too. Watch her for a bit, I'm going to the gym.” Clint nodded and Bucky too left the room. Clint looked down at the little girl again and seeing as how she was still asleep, he shifted carefully around so he was lying lengthwise along the couch, then pressed a kiss to the top of the red hair and tightened his grip on her before falling asleep as well.

When Clint woke later, he found Natasha perched at his feet and instead of Amy on his chest, it was her Hawkeye Bear. “She's fine, she's with Sam. You need to get back to the compound, Hill is looking for you,” Natasha said.

“She angry?”

“Don't think so. You've only got two missed calls.”

“About that,” he set the bear on the table where Bucky Bear had been sitting, “It didn't mean--”

“I know exactly what it meant. I won't say anything if that's what you're worried about.” She stood and went to leave. “By the way, check your inbox.” He grabbed his phone and saw the inbox notification. When he opened it, he saw it was a picture. Not just any picture but one that showed him and Amy as they had been earlier, fast asleep on the couch. He instantly saved it to his phone then set that as his background.

When he reached the garage, Amy was walking towards the elevator, one hand clutching Sam's pants' leg, the other holding her chocolate ice cream cone. Bucky Bear was tucked under her arm. “You gotta go now?” she asked between licks. 

Clint crouched. “Yeah, I do, been avoiding it too long and my boss is a little mad. Maybe if you're good, in a week or so you can come see me upstate. Okay?”

“Okay. Hugs?” Amy asked.

“Kiss?” Clint asked, tapping his cheek. The last thing he wanted was her dripping ice cream down his back. Amy leaned up and kissed his cheek.

“Bye, Mr. Clint.”

“Bye, sweetie," Clint answered. He smiled, ruffled her hair then climbed on his bike. Amy and Sam watched him go then they headed upstairs.

For the next six days, Amy spent her mornings dancing with Natasha and then her afternoons with Bucky, Sam, and Steve. The one thing they noticed was that she was a very happy kid but she noticed a lot more than they thought she would. She often got quiet and withdrawn when Bucky and Sam quietly argued or if they went too far teasing each other and when Steve would stare out the window and get too lost in his thoughts, she'd slip her little hand in his and just wait for him to come back down to Earth. She'd never ask what was wrong, instead she just tried to get him to smile.

One such morning, Amy had finished her dance with Nat and came into the Common Room to see Steve slouched in a chair staring out the window. She walked up to him, Bucky Bear in one hand, and used her other to take his as it hung over the left side of the chair. She stood beside him staring out the window as well trying to figure out what he was looking at. All she could see was the New York Skyline with a bit of Central Park in the distance. She glanced up at him then back out the window and back and forth a few times before squeezing his hand. Steve shook his head a few times as if to clear the thoughts and then looked down at her. She flashed him a big smile.

“Bucky Bear wanted to say good morning,” she told him. She held the bear up in front of her own nose and in a high pitched voice she said “Good morning, Captain, sir. Sergeant Bucky Bear reporting for duty, sir.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile down at her. “It’s afternoon and I don’t think that’s how Bucky Bear talks,” Steve answered.

“Can’t be, I haven’t had lunch yet so it’s gotta be morning,” Amy told him setting the bear on his arm but she kept ahold if it by the neck.

“I’m not sure that’s how that works,” Steve said. Amy nodded emphatically and Steve shook his head. “Okay, if you and Bucky Bear are certain, we’ll just have to feed you to make sure it’s afternoon.”

“Then you play Army with us?” Amy asked hopefully.

“Sure, I’ll play with you.” He took Bucky Bear from her and she reluctantly let him go. He held up the bear and with a scarily accurate impersonation of Bucky he said “Come on Private Millie, it’s time for lunch.” Steve wiggled the bear a bit as if he was the one speaking instead of Steve.

“Yes, sir, Sergeant Bear,” she answered and then saluted him.

“Close, but wrong hand,” Steve said.

“Oh.” Amy’s face fell then her eyes landed on her other hand, her right hand, still wrapped around Steve’s.

He gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll let it go this time. Captain’s orders.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” She grinned and he stood taking her and Bucky Bear to get lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still looking for my first commenter, even if it's just to say my writing sucks, they're all out of character and you hate it, though I do hope you'll be specific about what you hate. On the other hand, any guesses as to what Clint was going to stay before he said she was his friend?


	6. The Zoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because every good story needs a trip to the zoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who continues to read and like this story. Big thanks to ChristieLily for your review of the last chapter. Hope this one stands up to your expectations. So this chapter was supposed to be posted two days ago but for some reason it did not post. Here it is now.

Steve and Amy didn’t play long after lunch before he noticed she was dropping off so he convinced her to lay down with him and soon she was sleeping on Steve's chest. It wasn’t much later that Tony bound into the room. “I got him," Tony exclaimed.

“Shh!” Steve shushed him.

Tony’s gaze turned to him and he saw the sleeping girl. He apologized and lowered his voice. “I got him; the guy who did this to her. And I'm certain that it was the same guy that incited the riot.”

“You're certain?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah. See?” He broadcasted the footage from his tablet to the big screen. Steve worked Amy's hand free from his shirt then gently rolled her on to the couch before standing and making his way to Tony who was standing closer to the TV. Bucky joined him as well. He showed them the video from a news chopper that had been in the area filming over Central Park and then paused it as it swung over the building. “See? Right there.” Sure enough, at the top of 432 Park, you could see the shape of a man firing something that looked like it may have been a shotgun or rifle.

“Okay and what makes you say he caused the riot as well?” Sam asked.

“Because I tapped into security cameras from the surrounding buildings and managed to work out that the other flash came from a room at the hotel on the opposite corner from here. I had security check the room that I pinpointed the flash coming from and they found what looks like a laser rifle pointed at the street. We checked the register and found his name then had the cops stake out the room if he came back and sure enough, they took him in last night. With this evidence we have enough to hold him and hopefully he'll spill how he did it so this should be wrapped up within the week.”

“I wanna be there," Bucky said.

“No," Steve answered. “Everyone knows how the two of you are connected. How it'll look if you go down there to question him. We don't need it leaking that something is wrong with her. If Tony and I go, it'll look like it's just about the riot. Why don't you and Sam take her to the zoo? Let her feed the goats.”

“And I suddenly have a kid?”

“Babysitting. It's conceivable.”

“Fine. But get video. I wanna check this guy's story.”

“Deal,” Steve agreed. “Besides what was the last time you went to the zoo?”

“I got it," Bucky sighed. 

“If that laser is what turned her into a four year old and he still has it, can you reverse engineer it to turn her back?” Sam asked. He had been in the recliner keeping an eye on Amy the entire time but still paying attention to the conversation.

“That is part of my charm.” Tony smirked.

“If you can't?” Bucky pushed.

“Bruce is one of the foremost minds on biogenetics. Between the two of us, we'll figure it out, I promise," Tony insisted.

“You better,” Bucky reluctantly agreed.

Sam and Bucky made it to the Children’s Zoo just after one with Amy safely tucked in a stroller, their hats, sunglasses, jackets, and in Bucky’s case gloves, firmly in place. They made their way through the zoo but Amy didn’t seem all that interested. Bucky signaled to Sam who stopped then he crouched in front of the stroller. “What’s wrong, kiddo? Don’t like the zoo?” Bucky asked.

“I like da zoo. Last time Auntie Peggy and Pop-Pop took me. Don’t like the stroller,” Amy answered.

“Then how do we ask?” Bucky asked.

“Can I get out, please?” Amy batted her eyes at Bucky. Bucky pushed the sunshade back, lifted the tray and then undid her straps. He lifted her out and sat her on her feet, his hands on her hips. “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

“Stay close,” Bucky warned.

Amy tucked Bucky Bear under her outside arm then grabbed the side of the stroller and began to enjoy the trip to the zoo. “Look, Mr. Sammy, goatie goats.”

“Would you like to feed the goats?” Sam asked, motioning to the feed stand.

“No, thank you, can I pet them though?” Her eyes trailed over the stroller to him behind it.

“Sure. Put Bucky Bear in the stroller and Buckaroo will help you reach the goats.”

After getting her fill of petting the goats, they continued towards the cows. They stopped nearly an hour later near the duck pond so Sam could give Amy some water from her sports’ bottle but once he pulled it free from the basket under the seat and turned to give it to her, she was gone. “Hey, where’d she go?”

“Where’d who go?” Bucky asked.

“Millie. She was right here a second ago. I just turned to grab her sports’ bottle and when I turned back she was gone,” Sam explained. Bucky checked the stroller but only saw the bear so he jumped up on the nearby bench and scanned what he could see of the zoo.

“Got her. East, headed for the exit. Man, brown hair, just over six foot, red shirt, black jeans, work boots, wrangling what looks like six or seven little girls,” Bucky called. He and Sam made their way through the crowd and luckily the man was behind the girls, using a hand on one of their heads to steer them as the rest held hands. Since he was behind them it was easy for Bucky to sneak up behind him, grab his wrist and hand off the top of the young girl's head, and pin it behind the man's back as he slammed him into the nearby sign. Sam rushed around in front of the girls and dropped to his knees pulling off his sunglasses.

“Amelia Grace!” Sam said sternly. “Where were you going?” 

“He had a puppy who is sick. He need us to help. I know that strangers can be bad but you're supposed to help people, right?”

“Girls?” Sam asked the others. They all nodded in agreement with Amy.

“You're the Falcon, aren't you?” One girl asked astonished.

“Are you fighting bad guys?” Another one asked.

“Are the other 'vengers here?” A third one chimed in as she looked around trying to spot them.

“I am Falcon and that was a really bad man. We had to stop him. That's what my friend White Wolf is doing. Now, we're going to take you back to your parents, okay?” Sam said as cops came up. Two went to Bucky and the man and the rest came to Sam and the girls. The cops rounded up the girls and began to locate parents.

One cop pulled Amy aside and asked her about her parents. Sam quickly pulled out his phone. He pressed the button that linked him to FRIDAY in the Tower. “FRIDAY, can you put pictures of me and little Amy from the past week or so on my phone?”

“Loading.” FRIDAY loaded the photos quickly just as the cop came back with Amy.

“I hate to bother you, Mr. Wilson, but this little girl is insisting you're looking after her for a while.”

“Her grandfather had to go look after her mother. She's been staying with us at the Tower while he's out of town. See, I have pictures.” Sam handed over the phone and the officer scrolled through the photos to include ones that looked like he had taken them of her and Bucky.

“Mr. Barnes?” the officer asked as he walked up.

“Yeah, she's staying with us. Amy Grace, you are in so much trouble.” Bucky held his hand out and she reluctantly took it.

“Thank you for your help today, both of you, we'll take it from here,” the officer told them. Bucky dragged Amy back to where their stroller was sitting and strapped her in. Sam turned it away from the crowd and towards the duck pond as Bucky crouched in front of the stroller.

“You are so lucky we are in public. How could you? You know that there are a lot of people out there that want to hurt you. You know better.” Sam knew that Bucky’s anger was only coming from a place of concern but he also knew that Amy wouldn’t see it that way.

“I wanted to help the puppy.” Amy shouted, kicking her feet against the foot rest. “You told me to help people and he was sick. I had to help.”

“That's fine but you didn't ask. You always have to ask if you don't know the person.”

“Just wanted to help.” A full blown temper tantrum was on the way and Bucky wasn't sure he could stop it. Sam watched from behind the stroller wondering how Bucky was going to handle this. Bucky took a deep breath to calm himself like Sam and his therapist taught him. Anger wasn't going to help him here. As Amy's words dissolved into screaming and crying, her feet still banging against the footrest of the stroller, Bucky took her ankles in his metal hand and waited for her to stop. He had learned that sometimes there was nothing to do to help and she just had to cry herself out. He knew it looked bad and was uncomfortable to hear but she was too upset to listen.

“It's okay to be upset and confused,” Bucky said as she slowly calmed down what seemed like hours later. “Would you like some water?” he asked. He had learned from her grandfather the first time he had ever seen Amy have a break down in public that once she calmed down, she needed short, simple choices and soon she’d be ready to talk. Amy nodded and Bucky took the bottle from Sam. He held it by the bottom in his metal hand and helped her drink as his flesh hand rubbed the back of her calf. It always helped her calm down as an adult so he figured it would help now. “How about some crackers?” he asked when she pulled away from the sports’ bottle. She shook her head so he offered her the bear which she instantly wrapped her arms around. Once he was sure the tears had abated it was time to open the lines of communication. She had to know he would listen to her and that was the best way to get her to talk. “Are you still mad? It's okay to be mad. I admit I didn't really listen to you but now I'm ready to listen.”

“I wanted to help but now you're telling me not to help. Pop-Pop says helping is good. Are you saying it's not?” She looked so lost and confused it broke his heart.

“No, I'm saying that sometimes we help the wrong person and we get hurt because of it. I do want you to help people but I don't want you to get hurt by the wrong sort of people,” Bucky answered.

“I know the wrong sort of people,” Amy insisted.

“I know you do. You're smart and kind.” Bucky wasn't sure how to explain the next line of thinking. He didn't want to call her naïve or innocent but she didn't have enough knowledge when it came to people. He looked up at Sam for help.

“Sometimes,” Sam said, causing Amy to crane her neck back to look up at him behind the stroller, “people can be tricky and we need help deciding whether that person really needs help or if they are trying to convince us they do so they can take us away to hurt us. Sometimes even Bucky and I get tricked. However if we get someone else’s input, it's easier to see the truth.”

“So that guy was a bad guy trying to trick me and those other little girls?” Amy asked. If possible, her grip tightened on Bucky Bear.

“Yeah, he was," Bucky answered. Amy turned back to look at him. “See, if next time you ask, then we can help you figure out what his intentions are and maybe we can help too. Don't you think that Sam and I would want to help a sick puppy too?”

“I didn't think about that.” Amy’s eyes darted back and forth considering the thought. Then she looked back up at Bucky. “But he said you guys would be okay with me helping. I just wanted to be a superhero too.”

“Aw, Kob—Millie, you are a superhero. You're my hero,” Bucky said. It was 100 percent the truth too. Ever since she had saved him from Hydra when she was 10, she had refused to let the SHIELD team leave without him, she had been his hero.

“Thanks, Mr. Bucky, am I really in trouble?”

Bucky checked his watch and realized that it was edging towards five. He hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. “Well, Sam and I were going to get you ice cream but now I think it's too close to dinner. So tell you what, if you be good and stay in the stroller until we get the pizza joint, you'll get pizza, but if you cry, scream, or try to get out, we'll go home and have meatloaf.”

“I don't like meatloaf,” Amy protested.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Be good and stay in the stroller.” Amy pouted.

“Good girl.”

After getting pizza and heading back for the tower, they came across a young man waiting for the elevator in the lobby. “Hey, Spider-kid, I thought you lived in Queens?” Sam asked.

“I'm not a kid. I do … uh live in Queens, but Mr. Stark said he had something he wanted me to see,” Peter said.

“FRIDAY, is Tony in the building?” Sam asked.

“Mr. Stark is currently still at the police precinct. Shall I ask him when he plans on returning?” FRIDAY asked.

“See if it's any time tonight,” Sam answered.

“Excuse me,” Amy said softly as they waited for an answer.

All three men looked at the little girl to see her looking up at Peter. “Hi there,” Peter said.

“Hi. Why did he call you Spider-kid?”

Peter looked at her then smiled. “See him there on your [shirt](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/840062136725562525/)?” Peter asked, pointing to Spider-Man. “That's me.”

Her eyes went wide. “You're Spider-Man? That's awesome. Can you do any tricks?”

FRIDAY cut in. “Mr. Wilson, Mr. Stark says he will return in a few hours and if Peter shows up to tell him to see Dr. Banner.”

“Thank you, FRIDAY,” Sam said.

The elevator stopped at the common room and Bruce was standing outside the lab. Peter made it halfway to then turned back towards Amy. "Hey, kiddo." Peter said. Amy looked at him curiously. He shot his web shooter at her water bottle and pulled it to him. Amy's jaw dropped open.

"That was—that was—awesome." Amy stammered, staring in awe.

Peter smiled and set the bottle on the table before he walked over to Bruce. Bucky bent down and lifted the tray then unbuckled the harness and lifted her out. "Ready for dinner?" Bucky asked. Amy nodded and went to the table where Sam put her in her booster seat.

“Mr. Bucky,” Amy said when she finished her second slice of pizza.

“Yeah?” Bucky answered.

“I’m sorry. For earlier. Not asking for help for the puppy and for going with the man I didn’t know,” Amy said. She played with her napkin.

“It’s not okay that you did that, but thank you for apologizing. It means a lot that we recognize what we did wrong,” Bucky answered.

“I’m sorry to you too, Mr. Sammy. I know you two just want me to be safe,” Amy said. She glanced at Sam but kept her head bowed.

Sam reached over and lifted her chin. “Thank you,” Sam said. “It’s okay now. What would you say if Bucky reads you a story while I clean up?”

“Yes, please, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo? Will you please read me a story?” Amy asked brightly. Her smile lit up her face as she aimed it at Bucky.

“Sure, kid,” Bucky said.

When Bruce and Peter returned from the lab, Bucky was reading Amy _Peter Rabbit_ on the couch and Sam was watching the Nationals play the Yankees on TV. “Hey, kid, you eat something?” Bucky asked, glancing at Peter.

“I’ll get something on the way home,” Peter answered.

“There’s plenty of pizza in the fridge.”

“Okay. You like that book?” Peter asked, turning his attention to the little one.

“They don’t have Cap-toons, so it’ll do. But I really ‘peciate you reading it, Mr. Bucky,” Amy said.

“Anytime, kid.” Bucky went back to reading the book as Peter made himself some dinner. He was halfway through it when Tony and Steve returned.

“I see you’ve met the kid,” Tony said, plopping down on the couch.

“Hi, Mr. Tony.” Amy said sleepily.

“Hey, kid. You ready for bed?”

“Not sleepy.” Then she yawned belying the answer. She crawled over to him and curled up in his lap. Tony stared at her confused.

“What—What do—?” Tony stammered. He looked around the room for help.

“Just relax,” Steve said.

“What happened? Did he fess up?” Bucky asked.

Steve looked from him to Amy then back. “Later,” Steve warned.

Half an hour later, Amy was fully passed out and Bucky took her to bed. When he returned everyone turned expectantly to Tony and Steve. “So?” Bucky asked.

“He took the full wrap for the riot but refused to say anything about what happened to Amy without seeing her. Wants to see his handiwork,” Tony said.

“What does he expect? That we'd just let him?” Sam asked.

“I’m not sure what he planned is what happened,” Tony said.

“What do you mean?” Bruce asked.

“Once he admitted to causing the riot, they got a search warrant and found a bunch of specs on some kind of laser,” Steve explained.

“The blueprints for the two laser guns are a lot alike but there doesn’t seem to be any information in there about de-aging someone,” Tony said.

“You think he wasn't trying to de-age her? Then what?” Bucky asked.

“That little girl is Amy? The telepath?” Peter asked. Tony nodded. “How old is she?”

“Four, remembers up until Christmas ‘95,” Bucky supplied.

“One laser turned a crowd really angry and the other somewhat similar one turned our friend into a four year old but that wasn’t supposed to happen. What if it was supposed to change her emotions too? Maybe to a different emotion?” Peter asked.

“Why do you think that?” Sam asked.

“It’s a similar gun so shouldn’t it do the same thing just with a different emotion? You said there were differences between the two schematics. She told me about being raised by her grandfather. Said after she turned two and her dad left, her mom couldn’t handle it so her grandparents took her in. She went back to live with her mom when she was four, just after that Christmas. Then she was kidnapped just after her birthday. Her happiest memory was that Christmas. It was the last time she remembered seeing her uncle Jim. So maybe the one that hit her was supposed to make her happy or sad or nostalgic, something like that,” Peter explained. 

As Peter explained all that Sam felt a series of squeezes to his hand. It almost reminded him of SOS. He looked down to see Amy standing there with tear tracks down her face. She squeezed his hand in the same series again and this time he did recognize the SOS. “What’s wrong? Nightmares again? Amy nodded as she clung tightly to Captain Ameri-Bear. The discussion came to a stop as they realized she was there. “Alright, come here.” Sam lifted her onto his lap and began rocking her back to sleep. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Uh-uh.” Amy shook her head.

“Remember what I told you last time?”

“Yes, sir,” she sniffled. “Just don’t want to talk.”

“Okay.”

It was silent for a few moments before Tony stood. “Come on, kid, I get you a ride home,” he said to Peter.

“Sure,” Peter agreed. Bruce too made excuses and left, leaving the three men alone with their young charge.


	7. Side Effects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Which are self-explanatory

Bucky, Sam, and Steve sat in the Common Room of the tower as Amy rested against Sam’s shoulder, her hands wrapped tightly around Captain Ameri-bear. “What do you think is causing the nightmares?” Bucky asked when he was sure that Amy was asleep.

“When we sleep, the normal wall between our conscious and subconscious is much thinner. It allows us to process what we’ve seen in a way we couldn’t while awake. I think that she still has all her memories but something is preventing her from remembering them while she’s awake. When she sleeps they all come rushing back and she can’t handle them, hence the nightmares,” Sam explained.

“So her being lost is her being held captive?” Bucky asked.

“Yes, lost is an appropriate word for not knowing where you are,” Sam answered.

“Any way to stop the nightmares?” Steve asked.

“What helps when she’s an adult?” Sam asked. Both men looked at Bucky who flushed slightly.

“Something I would never do to a child,” Bucky said.

Both Sam and Steve smirked. “Similar idea. Wear her out. When the body is tired, the mind works less. Play more. Work out more. Anything to make her tired,” Sam said.

“I guess we can try that,” Bucky agreed.

“Oh and check your phone. Tony sent you the video you asked for,” Steve said. 

Twenty minutes after Sam put Amy back down she was back up with another nightmare so Bucky laid down with her on his chest on his bed and she quickly fell back asleep. He kept her there as he watched the interrogation and she seemed to sleep fine. It was almost as long as she could hear his heartbeat, she slept just fine. It also helped him focus on the interrogation. He was pretty sure that was what helped him realize the man was nervous about something. He watched the video three more times then caught it. When Steve asked the man about Kobik, that’s when he began to sweat bullets.

> _“Who’s to say I did anything to her?” The man asked. “And even if I did, you have no proof.”_
> 
> _Tony scoffed. “First off, I can tell you’re lying. Secondly this is video from a news helicopter showing you on the roof aiming what looks like a gun at the roof of my building. Just fess up. It’ll go easier on you,” Tony told him as he shoved at tablet across the table, presumably with the video footage from the helicopter._
> 
> _“It was just a scope. I wanted to see the riot.”_
> 
> _“Yeah, I could see that except you can’t see Park or 42nd Street from that roof. The Chase building is in the way. Tell us what you did.” Both streets ran on the west side of the tower, Park along the second story and 42nd along the first._
> 
> _“I want to see her. Talk to her.”_
> 
> _“Why? Do you not know what it did?” Steve pressed for answers._

There it was. Barely there, but Bucky’s advanced training with both Hydra and Amy had taught him to look for the almost imperceptible changes in someone’s body language. This guy had flinched when Steve asked if he knew what it did. It seemed the man realized now that something had gone wrong. Perhaps the Parker kid was right. _“Let me speak with her in person and I’ll tell her everything,”_ _the man said in the video._ That drew Bucky out of his thoughts. Then again maybe he just wanted to see the results of his gun.

There wasn’t much more to the video but Bucky had seen enough. He had to tell Tony and Steve about this but it could wait until the morning. For now he was content to lie on his back and run his hands through Amy’s hair. She, in-turn, curled further into him.

The following morning as Amy played with her Legos, Bucky sat down with Steve and Tony and explained his theory. “I think Parker’s right. That the man you caught meant to do something similar to her that he did to the rioters, but I don’t think he tested the laser before he hit her with it. The way he seems worried that something went wrong, but excited to see his results and he fully expected you to concede to letting him talk to her. When you didn’t, he seemed awfully worried.”

“That makes sense,” Tony said.

“Captain Rogers, there’s an incoming video call from Assistant Director Hill. She says it’s important,” FRIDAY spoke up.

“Put her through,” Steve said. The TV screen lit up and Steve watched as Maria came on screen.

Maria’s eyes combed the room spotting both Steve and Bucky on the couch and Tony in a recliner. “Captain Rogers, ah, Sergeant Barnes, we need both of you to suit up. We’ve got a mission we need you for,” Hill said.

“Are you sure it needs both of us? Surely Steve can take a couple of the others and be just as effective,” Bucky said.

“Sorry, Sergeant Barnes, we specifically need your expertise,” Hill said.

“Sam will be here and Bruce and Tony,” Steve tried to comfort. He didn’t want to leave Amy any more than Bucky did, but he knew when duty calls, you can’t just say no.

“You can’t leave her here with me,” Tony said.

“We’re leaving her with Sam, you’re just here for backup if he needs it,” Steve said.

“Have either of you seen Ms. Portland? We could really use her on this as well. On top of that, she owes me debrief on the riot from two weeks ago,” Hill said.

“Wanda can help us on this. Kobik is—” Bucky trailed off.

“Indispose,” Steve finished for him. “How long do you think this will take?”

“Couple of days, a week at most. Is there something I need to know about Ms. Portland?” Hill answered.

“Nope,” Bucky said after exchanging a look with Steve.

“Can you send Nat back down here?” Steve asked.

“She will be accompanying you as well.”

“Send the information, we’ll meet the team at the compound in two hours,” Steve said. The call was cut and Bucky looked at Steve pleadingly. “What would she tell you?”

“To go and kick butt. She’ll be okay with Sam, Tony, and Bruce,” Bucky sighed.

“I’m not good with kids. What about Clint? You think he’d come down?” Tony asked.

“Probably if you called him, but I’m sure Sam will have it under control,” Steve said.

“Come on, Punk, we need to say goodbye to the kid. She’s not going to take it well.” Bucky stood. Steve climbed to his feet as well and they went up to where Sam and Amy were playing with her Legos and Army men.

“Can we talk, honey?” Steve asked.

Amy stopped her Army man from pulling on the twine wrapped around Iron Bear and looked up sadly. “You’re leaving aren’t you?” she asked.

“What makes you say that?” Bucky asked.

“You gots the same look on your face that the General and Uncle Jim get when they gotta go. You come back?” Amy asked.

“Soon as we can,” Bucky told her.

“Be careful?” 

“Always.”

Her eyes darted to Sam real quick before going back to Bucky. “Mr. Sammy going too?”

Bucky shook his head. “No, just us and Nat.”

“Okay. How am I gonna dance then?”

“Take a break for a few days. Then maybe Sam can find you a local dance studio to dance at,” Bucky said.

“Did I do something wrong?” Amy stared down at her hands and played with her fingers. “Mama’s sick and Pop-Pop has to look after her and now you and Mr. Steve have to go away.”

“Aw, my sweet, little, Millie.” Steve sunk to his knees and frowned. Her eyes instantly shot to Steve. “You are so amazing and it has nothing to do with you. There’s a really bad guy and Buck and I have to go stop him. It’s going to take a couple of days but we have to do it,” he told her. He reached out and Amy reluctantly stepped over to him. He wrapped her in his arms holding her tightly. “I promise, I will be back.” She nestled her head against his shoulder, her hands fisted in his t-shirt.

“Okay,” she muttered against him. Amy was still sad but didn’t seem as sad as before. Steve kissed the top of her head and turned her towards Bucky. The older man opened his arms for a hug. She reluctantly pulled away from Steve and went to him. He dropped to his knees and her arms were flung around his neck. Bucky heard her whimper and it took almost everything in him to keep from changing his mind. Especially when he was certain he heard her say _‘Don’t leave me.’_ However when he looked down she wasn’t looking at him and her face was pressed into his shirt making it next to impossible for such clear words to have come from her.

“You be good for Falcon, okay? Him and Dr. Banner and Star—Tony will look after you until we get back. Capi-Bear and Bucky Bear will help too. I know it’s not the same but sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do,” Bucky explained.

“I know.” Her voice was muffled against his shirt and didn’t sound at all like the begging voice he had heard. He wondered if it was her subconscious reaching out. Bucky looked to Sam and noticed the Bear-venger in front of the other man.

“Why is Iron Bear all tied up?” Bucky asked.

Amy pulled back slightly and sadly grinned up at him. “He’s a ne’er do well. He’s leading a hostile force against the Army and trying to take the Warrior Princess. They got him down and tied him up to defeat his forces,” Amy explained. She wiggled her nose as she looked at the bear before turning her gaze back up to Bucky. “I know Iron Man and Iron Bear are good guys but when you’re playing, everyone takes turns being the bad guy.” Then her voice dropped into a whisper, “everyone ‘cept Bucky Bear o’course. He’s my favorite; just don’t tell the others that.” Amy shook her head.

“I won’t,” Bucky answered conspiratorially. He smiled softly.

“Buck, we got to go,” Steve warned.

Almost as if she had heard him, Amy clung to Bucky again. “We do have to go,” Bucky regretfully admitted, “but I’ll be back, I promise. You be good, okay? Love you,” he promised her. He kissed the top of her head as he stood pulling her up with him.

“Love you, too.” She burrowed against his chest and Sam had to come over and pry her away.

“We’ll have lots of fun while they’re away, okay? You won’t even notice they’re gone,” Sam pacified as he held her in his arms.

“That’s what Gammie says when Pop-Pop has to go but I always notice,” Amy answered sadly. She breathed in lungful’s of air and Sam knew the tears were coming. She watched Bucky and Steve go as she leaned against Sam.

Sam had to cut off the tears quickly or he knew she’d go into full on melt-down mode. Kids loved movies, was his first thought. “How about we clean this up and watch a movie, huh?” Sam asked.

“Belle?” Her brow rose and her eyes lit up as she looked up at him.

Sam grinned at her hopefulness. “Anything you want.” Sam set Amy down and she cleaned up, putting her Army men back in the bucket, the Legos in their box, then the bucket and box in the toy box. Then she untied Iron Bear and held his ear as Sam lead her down to the TV room and put on the cartoon version of Beauty and the Beast. When the ballroom scene came on she turned the bear in her arms and danced with him copying the moves on the screen. Sam watched impressed. “I thought you didn’t like princesses,” Sam said.

“I don’t like pink. Her dress is yellow and have you seen that liburrary? That’s what I want. Plus she doesn’t just marry him ‘cause he’s the prince. He has to be nice first. Pop-Pop says that’s important.”

“It is. And when you’re all grown up, I’m sure you’ll find a guy that treats you as well as the Beast treats Belle.” She didn’t need to know that the older her had already found the Beast to her Belle.

“She and Jasmine are my favorites.”

“If you like them, I’ve got a movie I think you’ll like. We can watch it after dinner. There’s no dancing but there is a really strong princess.” As Amy settled back down after the song, Sam got FRIDAY to send Tony the video of the girl dancing with his bear version. He figured the engineer would get a kick out of that. Then he also sent the video to Steve’s and Bucky’s phones.

Sure enough after dinner he asked FRIDAY to put on _Brave_ and Amy fell in love with Merida. “She’s awesome, Mr. Sammy. Can you teach me to shoot like her?” Amy asked as she snuggled against him.

“I can’t, but maybe we can see if Mr. Clint can,” Sam answered.

“Okay.”

“But first, I think it’s someone’s bed time.”

Her face instantly fell. “Not sleepy.”

“I know but you gotta try for me okay?”

“Okay. Can we call Mr. Bucky?”

“Sorry, sweetie, he’s real busy. He’ll call if he’s got the chance.”

“Can I say goodnight to Mr. Tony and Dr. Bruce?”

“Alright,” Sam agreed.

Lunch time the following day found Sam in what felt like the most irritated mood of his life. Normally, he wasn’t the kind who got angry but something was really making him angry. To keep from taking it out on Amy, he took her up to the lab.

“Sam,” Bruce acknowledged.

“Bruce. I need you guys to watch her for an hour or so,” Sam said.

“It’s too dangerous for a kid in here, take her with you,” Tony replied.

“Can’t. I just need an hour, Tony.”

“Call Pepper,” Tony answered.

“Business meeting, California,” Sam said.

“Happy?” Tony asked.

“He’s not a babysitter,” Sam said.

“Besides you gave him the afternoon off,” Bruce added.

“Don’t leave her here,” Tony warned.

“I’ll just sit over here with Capi-Bear. You won’t even know I’m here,” Amy said softly. She retreated to the couch in the corner and climbed up and sat quietly. She played with the bear’s paws and Sam took that as his cue to leave. 

“Wilson! Wilson, don’t,” Tony called but Sam was already gone.

“She’s not in the way and she’s not causing any harm. It’s not a big deal,” Bruce tried to convince him. Tony sighed and thirty minutes later, he had completely forgotten about the kid on the couch. Bruce occasionally glanced at her but when all she did was sit there and play with her bear, he shrugged it off and went back to work as well. The sooner they figured out the laser gun that had started their problems, the better. They could turn her back and wouldn’t have to worry about looking after her.

It seemed like hours later when she finally moved but when she did neither Tony nor Bruce noticed. She climbed down off the couch and saw both men looking super busy. Knowing that interrupting these talks was something she had been warned against, she had gotten in trouble when she interrupted her grandfather and the General as they looked over a piece of paper, which later turned out to be a file for SHIELD, she walked over to what looked like a TV screen and tapped it gently. In reality it was a computer screen but having grown up without a computer in the house she couldn’t tell the difference.

“FRIDAY, are you in there?” she asked, trying not to be overheard by Bruce and Tony.

“Yes, young miss, how can I be of assistance?” FRIDAY asked as the screen came to life.

“I really need to potty but they are really busy and I don’t want to bother them but I can’t go by myself. I don’t know what to do.” Amy whimpered.

FRIDAY analyzed the situation then interrupted Bruce and Tony. The little girl was in distress and FRIDAY didn’t have any hands to help her. “Boss, our young guest needs you.”

“No, I don’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m okay.” Amy pleaded trying to block out FRIDAY’s words to stay out of trouble. She squeaked when both men turned towards her and then she wet herself which sent her into tears. She continued to apologize until Bruce knelt down in front of her and took her hand.

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Come on now, it’s okay,” he coaxed gently. She was too worked up to listen though. “FRIDAY, does she have any dry clothes on this floor?”

“No, Dr. Banner. All of her belongings are in Sergeant Barnes’ quarters,” FRIDAY answered.

“Amelia,” Bruce said firmly. She tried to get her tears under control and he waited patiently until she did. When she finally looked up at him, she was sniffling but there were no more tears. “We’re going to get you changed. You’re not in trouble.”

“But you were busy and I’m not ‘posed to interrupt. Gammie gets angry when I interrupt grown up meetings.”

“You had to potty. That’s more important. Any time you have to, you tell me or Tony. Nothing we’re doing is more important. When you gotta go, you gotta go.”

“I’m not in trouble?” Amy asked, avoiding his eyes as her breathing slowed.

“No. It’s an accident, it happens. Now, we’re going to go get you cleaned up then how about some ice cream?” Bruce prompted.

“Yes, please.” Amy nodded.

“U, clean this up,” Tony snapped at his robot motioning to the puddle at Amy’s feet then he followed Bruce who picked Amy up and they went down to Bucky’s quarters where Bruce put her on the toilet. He brought her a new set of clothes and helped her wipe and then get dressed as Tony prepared her some ice cream. Sam found them twenty minutes later, eating ice cream and watching _Brave_ in the common room.

“I leave for an hour and you stuff her full of ice cream?” Sam asked.

“I gave her ice cream because she had an accident and she was upset,” Tony said.

“Oh, ‘cause that’s so much better,” Sam said.

“Mr. Sammy, quiet. The movie’s on. Please,” Amy said, remembering her manners at the last second.

“There’s enough time between now and dinner; she’ll be fine,” Bruce assured him.

Sure enough, she ate her dinner just fine and even asked for a snack before bed. Sam was certain that the fit she threw about the pull-up he made her wear that night predisposed him to another angry mood the following day, but it didn’t really get to him until he tried to put her down for a nap after lunch and she threw another fit. Sam was pretty sure it was because she was missing Bucky and her grandfather, but all he knew was that he was tired of it. So he once again dropped her off with the Science Bros and went to the gym. Tony gave her a tablet with a movie on it and half an hour later she was out cold with Bucky Bear lying protectively on her chest.

Wondering if it had something to do with her being a little kid and not having spent more than a few hours alone with one in years, Sam joined the Science Bros in the lab that next morning and was shocked to find he didn’t get angry at all that day. Even though she still only came to him for everything, just being around the other two had an effect on him and kept him cool headed. So he spent the following day with her and once again he got angry with her around lunch time. Wondering if it was just him, he dropped Amy off with Tony the following day then convinced Bruce to go out for a few hours. He wasn’t all that surprised when he came back and Tony was at his wits end with her.

“What did she do?” Sam asked when he saw Tony throwing tools at Dum-E and Amy sitting on his work table holding a screwdriver between Bucky Bear’s paws.

“Nothing. She’s a better assistant than almost anyone else I’ve ever had. She holds what I tell her to, hands it over when asked, and only has to be asked once. She also keeps quiet when I ask and when I don’t, she doesn’t ask stupid questions.” Tony answered.

“Then what’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just angry,” Tony said. He hated not having an answer for that.

“You think it’s her?” Sam asked.

“We can run a few more tests. The soldiers never said anything?” Tony asked.

“I don’t think they’ve ever spent more than a few hours alone with her. I’ve only noticed it after four hours,” Sam answered.

“I see,” Tony said.

“Did I do something wrong?” Amy asked, toying with the screwdriver.

“No, kiddo, you didn’t,” both Sam and Tony were quick to reassure her. Neither one could stand it when she pouted.


	8. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hulk Meets Kitten

So they tested and proved their theory over the next five days. “It seems that the more people she’s around, the less of an effect she has,” Tony explained as Amy was busy playing a racing game on a tablet. “Maybe you should take her up to the Compound; more people there, less of an effect. On top of that, it’ll give us uninterrupted time to work on this.” 

“And put her right in Fury’s hands,” Sam protested. He wasn’t about to turn her into another science experiment. She had had enough of that the last time she was this age. 

“He saved her life once, I’m sure he’ll keep her safe,” Bruce answered. Nick Fury had been part of the team that had rescued Amy from Hydra but with it being a mission ordered specifically by Director Carter they only got about half the tests done that they wanted to do and they had new technology now to run or re-run tests.

“Maybe, but that’s not my decision to make,” Sam said.

“They left her with you, I’d say that makes it your decision,” Tony said. All three jerked up when the neon blue light in the ceiling began to flash and then alarms began to blare. “That’s the intruder alarm. FRIDAY, what floor?” 

“Six floors down, Boss,” FRIDAY answered. 

“Bruce, keep her safe,” Sam said. Bruce nodded and Sam and Tony headed for the door. 

“FRIDAY, lock down the lab. Blackout protocol. No one in or out,” Tony ordered. 

“Initiating,” FRIDAY answered. Sam pulled a gun from his waistband as Tony activated his armor. 

“Sweetie,” Bruce said, pushing down Amy’s headphones. She paused the game and looked up at him. “There are some bad guys here. I need you to say here with me and keep as quiet as you can.”

“Are they going to hurt me?” Amy asked.

“They might try. I won’t let them. If they get in here go inside the bathroom and lock the door. Hide under the sink, okay?”

“Make myself as tiny as possible and keep quiet. You or Tony will come get me when it’s safe,” Amy said.

“How do you know so much?”

“Pop-Pop was in the Army and he’s a ‘mando. Taught me how to stay safe. Can I play?” Amy pointed to the tablet.

“Sure, kid.” Amy put the headphones back on and went back to playing her game. For a while Bruce just sat and watched her. Blackout protocol meant the lab was virtually cut off from the rest of the Tower. It was safer that way. At least, right up until the door exploded inward. Bruce pulled Amy off the couch and pushed her toward the bathroom. Amy fled and found a small dark corner next to the toilet to hide in. She turned off her game and pressed her headphones to her ears singing the Irish lullaby in her head trying to block out noises from the other room. Even though they were noise-canceling headphones they were a bit too big so some noise filtered in around the edges. She squeezed her eyes shut and did her best to stay quiet. 

A large hand wrapping around her back brought her out of her hiding spot. When she opened her eyes she saw the Hulk looking at her concerned. She pulled off her headphones and ran to him. He gently scooped her up in his hands and brought her to his chest as he sat just outside of what had been the bathroom door. Her hand stroked his cheek and she buried her face in his broad shoulder.

“Hulk protect Kitten,” Hulk told her. The first time Tony truly met Amy, she was curled up in a little ball across from the big floor to ceiling windows on one of his guest floors in a full blown panic attack. Since then both Tony and the Hulk and various other had called her Kitten.

“Hulk did good,” she answered. “I ‘peciate Hulk. Are we safe?”

“Won’t let nobody hurt Kitten,” Hulk said.

“Bruce?” Sam’s voice came from the doorway. “Bruce? Where are you?”

There was the sound of fans and the smoke cleared allowing both Sam and Tony to see Hulk cradling Amy. “Hulk,” Tony said unsure. Everyone knew that when he was the Hulk, he preferred to be referred to as such and not as Banner though the two were a more cohesive unit than they once were.

“Hulk protect.”

“What do we do?” Sam asked in a stage whisper. “Only Nat and Amy can turn him back.”

“Hulk, it’s okay. It’s safe now. Can you put her down?” Tony asked. Hulk wasn’t unreasonable; he just had a child-like mentality. 

Hulk moved to put her down but Amy started screaming and trying to hold on, so he brought her back to him. 

“Millie, sweetie, you’re safe now. Will you come here?” Sam tried.

“Scared. Safe with Hulk,” Amy answered.

“The bad guys are gone. You’re safe now. No one can get to you,” Sam tried coaxing.

“Hulk?” Amy pulled back a little. 

“Birdman and Metal Man will protect Kitten. You safe with them,” Hulk answered.

“But I like Hulk. Remind me of Pop-Pop.”

“Hulk like Kitten too,” he said.

“Millie, I promise, they’re gone now. I just want to make sure you didn’t get hurt. Can he put you down on the floor? You can stand next to him, just let me check,” Sam persuaded.

“Okay. Down Hulk, please,” Amy answered after a moment. He set her down on the floor and she faced Sam still holding the Hulk’s hand. Sam checked her over and found not a single scratch on her.

“Hulk did very good. Not hurt at all,” Sam said.

“I told you,” Amy insisted. “Where’s Doctor Banner?” 

Sam motioned to the Hulk. “Doctor Banner turns into the Hulk,” Sam said.

“Why?” 

“Hulk protect Banner,” Hulk answered.

“Oh? Kinda like a bodyguard? You keep the doctor safe so he can help others?” Amy asked.

“Yes.” 

“Hulk did good. Protected Amy and Banner. I like Hulk but I think they need Doctor Banner. Hulk can play later, right?” Though most of the statement was directed to the Hulk, the question was mostly directed to Tony and Sam.

“If it’s alright with him, but yes, we could really use the doctor at this moment,” Tony said. 

“Please, Mr. Hulk? Can the doctor come back?” Amy asked, gently squeezing his hand. Hulk looked at Sam who pulled Amy away. He took her back towards the door and Hulk transformed back.

“Who were those guys?” Bruce said as he got dressed. 

Tony and Sam exchanged looks. “Compound,” they agreed. Bruce looked confused.

“Sweetie, how would you like to go see Clint upstate at the compound?” Sam asked Amy.

“When can we leave?” Amy asked excited.

“Tomorrow morning. Why don’t you go to the common room and start packing up your toys while I get your suitcase?” Sam asked.

“Okay.” Amy nodded, skipping out of the room.

“She was in my head. His head,” Bruce told Tony. “I don’t think she realized she was doing it, but I could feel her. She seemed to be trying to calm him down like she normally does after a Code Green. It was almost on a subconscious level.”

“Well, you did say she still has her powers she just doesn’t realize it,” Tony answered. Sam shook his head and followed Amy out of the room calling Happy to get some help moving everything.

“Didn’t I tell you to pack up your toys?” Sam asked half an hour later when he returned to the common room. There was a line of toys sitting on the coffee table. Her bucket of Army men, three boxes of Legos, two Nerf guns, and a few horses plus a plastic sword.

“You did but you didn’t give me anything to put them in. These are the ones I want to take.”

“I—you’re right. Put them all in the toy box, we’ll bring it with us.”

“I can bring all my toys?” Amy asked, trying not to look too excited.

Sam smiled. “Yeah, we’ll be staying there for a while.”

“But what about when Mr. Steve and Mr. Bucky come back? They won’t know where to find me—uh us.”

“I’ll let them know,” Sam reassured her.

“And Ms. Nat too? I want to keep dancing.”

“Her too.” Amy grinned and put all of her toys back in the toy box then checked around the room to make sure she had everything.

“Did you get all of my Bear-vengers?” Amy asked as he put her down for bed time.

“They’re all in that suitcase,” Sam said, pointing to the red suitcase at the end of the bed.

“They can’t breathe in the suitcase.”

“You said it yourself, they’re stuffed. They don’t need to breathe at all.”

“Can I have Cap and Bucky Bear to sleep with?” Amy asked.

“Sure.” He pulled Cap from the suitcase and Bucky Bear from her nightstand and handed them both to her.

They left early the following morning before Amy was even awake. She didn’t wake until about midway through their drive. She was a bit cranky that she didn’t get to say goodbye to Bruce and Tony until Sam handed her a tablet with video messages on it. “Just push the play button in the center of the screen,” Sam explained.

The first one was from Tony. **_“Hey, Kiddo. I know you won’t get to say goodbye so this is my way of saying … see you later. It’s safer for you to stay up at the compound where all of our friends can keep an eye on you and protect you from any bad guy who will try to hurt you. I’ll come see you as soon as I figure this last project out. Until then be good for Sam and his friends, okay? Maybe I’ll bring you a surprise if you are okay? Later, Kitten,” Tony said._** The screen went black and another video popped up.

She tapped the play button and this time it was Bruce who spoke. _“Millie, I know that we didn’t get to say goodbye but that’s okay because this isn’t really a goodbye. The compound is a whole lot safer than the tower and you’ll make a lot more friends up there. Hulk and I will come see you when we get the chance. Until then stay safe and take care.”_ This video too went black and Amy looked up at Sam who glanced at her in the rearview.

“That was nice of them,” Sam said.

“Yes. You have friends at the compound?”

“A lot of them and they’ll like you too. They’re going to take real good care of you.”

“Are you leaving too?” Amy’s face crumpled and Sam quickly back pedaled.

“No, I just meant they’ll take care of you too. Are you excited to see Mr. Clint?”

“Yeah.” She admitted softly. “When is Pop-Pop coming back?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. Soon, I think.”

“And Cap and Buckaroo?”

“In a couple days.”

“Is my mommy going to be okay?”

“I’m sure she will be.” Sam checked the signs on the side of the road and then checked the time. “Are you hungry? We can stop for food.”

“And potty?”

“Okay, potty too.”

After breakfast, they got back on the road and Sam had Amy set up with a movie. He was eternally grateful that the only person to meet him in the garage when he arrived was Clint.

“Mr. Clint!” Amy cheered when she spotted him as Sam undid her belt. 

“Hey, Kid,” Clint answered. He went to the trunk and began pulling bags out coming up with seven suitcases and the toy box. “How does one kid accumulate so much stuff?” Clint asked.

“You don’t want to know how many clothes she goes through in a day,” Sam said, setting her down on the pavement. She went to Clint as Sam grabbed her backpack and Falcon Bear from the car. He stuck the bear in the backpack with his head sticking out and slipped it on Amy’s back.

“Careful!” Amy cried as Clint lifted the red suitcase out of the trunk. “That’s got the Bear-vengers in it.”

“One suitcase for her bears? Really, man?” Clint asked.

“Nah, there’s other things in it, those are just the most important things to her,” Sam said.

“Hi there, beautiful.” A voice said behind Amy. She jumped and spun to look.

“Who are you?” Amy asked, shying back into Clint.

“Millie, meet Pietro Maximoff. Piet, this is Millie,” Clint introduced.

“That is a beautiful name for a beautiful, little lady. And what brings you to our humble, little home?”

“Mr. Sammy,” Amy said. 

“Grab the bags,” Clint told him. Pietro tucked the smallest bag under his arm then grabbed the handles of two of the suitcases and turned to go when he felt a small hand on his.

“I take that one,” Amy said. She pulled on the handle in his left hand. “Please.”

“Okay,” Pietro said. He let go of the red suitcase and grabbed the silver one instead. Sam pulled up the handle on the red suitcase and tipped it so she could wheel it behind her. Amy took the handle and looked around. 

“Where’d he go?” Amy asked.

“You know how Peter had powers? He could make webs like a spider? Piet has powers too. He can run really fast,” Sam explained. 

“He’s a superhero?” Amy asked.

“He is,” Sam agreed.

“Kinda annoying though,” Clint said. Sam rolled his eyes. 

“Let’s get you upstairs and into some actual clothes. Then you can meet the rest of our friends,” Sam said.

Amy nodded and followed Clint towards the elevator. Sam grabbed the rest of the bags and followed them. Clint led them through the compound and to a spare room. The three of them returned to the common area only to be confronted by Maria Hill.

“Enough is enough, Wilson. I want an answer now. Where is Amelia Portland?” Hill asked.

“I’m Amelia Portland,” Amy said.

“Millie, grown-ups are talking,” Sam chided.

“Yes, sir.” Amy stared down at her feet.

“Why don’t you and I go watch some TV?” Clint asked, scooping Amy into his arms.

“Cap-toons?” Amy asked.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Clint took her from the room and Sam looked back at Hill.

“I’m waiting,” Hill said to Sam.

“Like Steve and Bucky told you, Amy’s indisposed. Barnes told you everything that happened that day and he spent most of it by her side. What he didn’t, is covered by Tony’s report. And I know what you’re thinking, Tony approved visitation for the child. It doesn’t matter that he’s not here or that he’s mostly based out of the Tower, this is still his Compound and when Steve’s away, Tony’s in charge.”

“That’s partially what I was thinking, but mostly I was thinking, “Why does that child look an awful lot like the Amelia Portland that went missing in ‘95?” Because if I didn’t know that it had been over 20 years and that she was rescued in ‘01, I’d say it’s the same girl.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Because her grandfather helped create and push through the law that created the Amber Alert system. He was with Amber’s parents when they stood with the president who signed it into law. He also continued to work with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to get them to expand their role when it comes to missing children. It’s also why the Amber Alert system is also called the Amelia Alert in Boston. Talk fast,” Hill ordered.

“Something happened that day. Stark and Banner are working to reverse it. We just have to take care of her until they do,” Sam explained.

“Does her family know?” 

“It’s up to Barnes to tell them. None of the rest of us quite know who her family is. That’s something that she keeps close to the vest. All I know is she doesn’t talk to her mother, hasn’t seen her father, and her grandfather is a bit of a legend,” Sam said. “I’ve learned he was in the Army and a ‘mando which I think means a Commando but I’m not sure if that means Howling Commando or just a regular Commando. I’ve also learned that he was a fan of the Howling Commandos and I know there were 10 of those. The original seven and then they added three to help out after Steve and Barnes went missing.”

“He is definitely a legend. Probably not who you’d expect either. You’re just going to keep her here?” 

“Yes. Steve and Barnes should be back in a few days and they’ll take over. We’re hoping that Stark and Banner can work this out sometime in the next week. Can we keep this from Fury? I know we shouldn’t, but the last thing we need is for her to become some kind of lab rat. She had enough of that when she was actually this age.” 

“Understood. Just keep her up here, there are less cameras and she can be passed off as family,” Hill told him. 

“Thank you,” Sam said. He made his way to Amy who was once again watching _Brave_. “Again?”

“I like it and he couldn’t find Cap-toons either,” Amy pouted. Then she grinned. “Mr. Clint promised to show me how to shoot like her too.”

“That’s great. I got a message from Steve.”

“They’re coming home?”

“In a few days. I know it’s not right away but soon.”

“Okay. I wanna dance. When’s Ms. Natty coming back?” Amy asked.

“Same time as Steve.”

“Tell you what, we’ll look around and see if we can find you a safe, secure school to dance at,” Clint told her.

“Really?” Amy asked excitedly.

“Yeah. I’ll get on that.” Clint went to see one of his favorite agents and Sam sat down as Vision and Rhodey came over.

“Millie, this is Vision and James Rhodes. Guys this is—” Sam started.

“Clint explained it,” James answered. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“You too. Are you friends with the Captain, too?” Amy asked James.

“They are,” Sam answered.

“Oh. Okay.” Later that afternoon, Sam and two agents took Amy to a local dance studio and a thoroughly-vetted teacher picked up where Nat left off.

Those lessons in the afternoon and shooting lessons with Clint in the morning kept Amy busy and for the most part kept her mind off missing Steve and Bucky. Granted he wasn’t teaching her on a real bow and arrow but rather a Nerf bow. It would keep her from getting hurt. Since Clint was pretty sure Tony would be turning her back in the next few days, he didn’t want to get her a real bow that she wouldn’t be able to use for very long. Then one day, mid-morning, maybe four days into her stay at the compound, Amy had just finished with her shooting lesson and was watching _Dumbo_ when someone sat down beside her. “This is the best part, watching him fly for the first time.” Amy looked up and grinned widely.

“Captain,” she cooed. She crawled into his lap and pulled his arms around her and Bucky Bear. “Did Bucky come back too?”

“He did. He had to stop by and get something taken care of but he should be up shortly. FRIDAY, pause the movie,” Steve ordered. The move stopped as Dumbo soared through the clouds. “Clint, you didn’t let her watch the pink elephants, did you?”

“No. I know what that scene does. FRIDAY cut that scene so she couldn’t see it,” Clint answered.

“Mr. Captain?” Amy asked, leaning back into him and looking up. Steve looked down at her to see her worrying her lip. 

“Ok, sorry. FRIDAY, resume.”

Amy was nearly asleep when the credits began to roll and she heard another voice in her ear. “Aw, I missed _Dumbo_? That movie is one of the best,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who snuck up behind her? Any ideas who her grandfather is yet? 
> 
> Minor side note, the Amber Alert was pushed through in '95-'96 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. That should help you figure out who her grandfather is since he has enough juice to get things done.


	9. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon which several of our heroes return.

Amy blinked a few times then her eyes widened and she pulled herself from Steve’s grip. “Buckaroo!” she squealed. She climbed to her feet on the cushion, knocking Bucky Bear aside, and held her arms up to him. Bucky scooped Amy into his arms and held her tight. “I missed you. Bucky Bear is good but nothing like the real thing.” She clung to him like a wet t-shirt and tried not to cry. Her voice was slightly muffled by his shirt but he heard enough to know how much she missed him.

“I know,” Bucky answered.

“You were gonna forevah. Forevah and evah.”

Steve stared at her confused for a moment. “Are you from Boston?” Steve asked.

Amy pulled back from Bucky keeping her legs wrapped around his waist as he supported her with both arms. Amy let her hands rest on Bucky’s shoulders as she glanced down at him since he was still on the couch. “I was born in Boston and that’s where Pop-Pop lives but Mommy lives in Cambridge,” Amy said.

“There’s a difference?” Clint asked. Her eyes flicked to him where he sat on the couch.

“You’re obviously not from Boston, otherwise you’d know the difference,” Amy answered. Then she turned back to Bucky. “Did Ms. Natty come back with you?”

“She did, and she got Chinese. Are you hungry?” 

“I never had Chinese before. Is that like Japanese? Uncle Jim brings that when he visits.”

“Not in the slightest. Try it and if you don’t like it, we’ll get you something else.”

“Hi, Ms. Natty,” Amy said as she saw the woman walking up the stairs. Wanda was with her.

“Hello, Kotenok,” Natasha answered.

“What does that mean?” Amy asked.

“Kitten. It’s Russian,” Bucky answered.

“Oh. Hulk calls me Kitten too.”

“You met the Hulk?” Bucky asked. His anger was barely restrained as he glanced at Steve who shrugged.

“Yeah.” Amy nodded. “Bad guys broke into the Tower. Hulk protected me and Dr. Banner. He was real nice. I haven’t seen him since though.” Amy averted her eyes when she saw how angry he looked. She shifted so she was more on his hip than chest and rested her head on his shoulder her fingers playing with his hair. “Mr. Bucky, I’m hungry,” she said offhandedly.

“Alright, Kiddo.” Bucky took her to the table but she refused to let go of him. “You can’t eat if you don’t let go.”

“Wanna sit with you.” Bucky smirked but let her sit in his lap. “Who’s your friend, Ms. Nat?” Amy asked.

“This is Wanda. She’s also a friend of the Captain’s.”

“Mr. Captain has a lot of friends.”

“That he does,” Nat answered.

“Hi, Ms. Wanda. My name is Amy but sometimes they call me Millie. Did you defeat the bad guys?” Amy asked.

“We did. I heard you’ve been having a lot of fun around here,” Wanda mentioned as Steve got plates from the cupboard and Clint began to hand them around.

“Yeah, Mr. Clint’s been teaching me to shoot a um—” Amy stopped and looked around.

“Nerf bow,” Clint supplied.

“Yeah, that. I really like it.”

“Were you good for Sam?” Bucky asked.

Amy nodded but looked sad. “I tried real hard but I think I made him mad. I had to spend some mornings with Tony in the lab and then we came up here. I tried real hard to be good. I really did.”

“I’m sure you did and I’ll talk to him. Didn’t you like spending time in the lab?”

“I gots to help Mr. Tony with projects. He let me and Bucky Bear hand him tools but I think I made him mad too because he threw stuff. Not at me but at the robots.”

“You didn’t get hurt?

“No.” She turned it around on him. “Did you get hurt? Is that what this is for?” Amy touched the bandage on his flesh arm.

“I did but I’ll be okay.”

“Ms. Nat, will you take me to ballet this afternoon? Usually agents do it but I want you to meet Teacher,” Amy said.

“Agents?” Bucky asked.

“They’re part of S.H.I.E.L.D. A secret spy organ—org—club. They put their logo on everything. Aunt Peggy founded it, you know?” Amy said. “Mr. Clint says they are there to keep me safe because he can’t always be there.”

“Are they nice?”

Amy nodded. “Same guys every time.”

“Sure, Kid, I’ll go with you.” Nat nodded.

“And Bucky come too?” Amy asked, leaning back into him to look up at his face.

He frowned. “I got some work to do, but I’ll see you right after I promise,” Bucky said.

“Okay.” So after lunch Nat took Amy to ballet with the agents following at a distance. Nat was definitely impressed with how far Amy had come and then spoke with the teacher who was also impressed with Amy. When they came back to the compound, Amy instantly sought out Bucky but found Steve instead who took her to play telling her that Bucky would join them at dinner. Amy was disappointed but turned her attention to the warrior princess game Steve convinced her to play.

“Apologize, you nasty jerk. Apologize for trying to kidnap the princess,” Amy demanded, pointing her fake sword at Steve’s throat as he knelt in front of her towards the end of the game.

“Yeah, punk, apologize to our little, warrior princess,” Bucky said from the doorway.

“Bucky-Buckaroo!” Amy squealed, rushing over to him.

“Hey, Princess. You shouldn’t turn your back on the bad guy.”

“You got eyes on him and so does Bucky Bear he wouldn’t try anything.”

Bucky dropped to his knees. “Still they could be very tricky. Don’t want you to get hurt. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier.”

“It’s okay. You had work.” Amy hugged him then turned back to Steve. She jabbed her sword at him and he dodged. “Now, what do you have to say for yourself you dirty Jaku?”

“Did she just call you a jerk in Japanese?”

“Uncle Jim says it all the time. That and something Pop-Pop told me never to repeat.”

“And what’s that?”

“Nachi,” Amy hesitantly responded.

“That means Nazi,” Bucky said.

“Oh. Yeah, that’s not good. The General taught me some French and German but Gammie washed my mouth out with soap when I said what he taught me.”

“That’s not good.”

Both Amy and Bucky looked at Steve. She jabbed her sword in his direction again. “I’m sorry, your most graceful majesty. I am a bad man and I will never again attempt to take the warrior princess,” Steve apologized.

“Good. You are free to go,” Amy said.

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“We play again?” Amy asked.

“How about this time Bucky’s the bad guy?” Steve suggested.

Amy’s face instantly dropped and she stared at him affronted. “No. No. Bucky is a knight. A good guy. He can’t be a bad guy. You take that back.” She jabbed at him with the sword and he dodged out of the way once again.

Steve smirked at Bucky as if trying to prove a point. She jabbed at him again. “Okay, fine. Besides, it’s dinner time,” Steve said.

“Up?” Amy asked Bucky. 

“Grab Bucky Bear,” Bucky told her. She put the sword back in the toy box then grabbed her bear. She went back to Bucky who picked her up and Steve followed them down to the common kitchen where lasagna was sitting on the counter.

After Amy’s bath later that night, she returned to the living room and braced herself against the couch as Bucky sat on the couch and began to brush out her hair. Wanda could only watch for a moment or two before calling the little girl over. “Come here and bring me your brush,” Wanda said gently. Bucky handed it over when Amy looked up at him and she took it to Wanda. The older girl flicked her brother’s legs off her lap then began gently brushing the young girl’s hair. She was proud when the young girl didn’t flinch, not even once unlike with Bucky. “Would you like me to braid it too?” Wanda asked once it was all brushed out.

“Into piggy-tails? Yes, please,” Amy answered.

When Wanda finished, Clint pulled Amy into his lap. “I have to go now, Kiddo. Time to be a superhero. I know you want to keep shooting but I think it’s best if you take a break for a while. Play with Steve and Bucky. When I come back, I’ll take you out for lunch and maybe get you a real bow to shoot with,” Clint said.

“You really have to go?” Amy asked, trying not to frown.

“It’s only for a couple of days.”

“That’s what Bucky said and he was gone forevah.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to be gone so long.”

“Pop-Pop would say I’m being selfish but I’ll miss you.”

“It’s okay to be a little selfish when someone has to go away. How about I tell you a story before I go?” Clint asked. Amy nodded and settled against him. Clint finished his story softly and found Amy fast asleep. He smiled softly and shifted her so he could stand. He walked over to Bucky and laid her down on his chest.

“You couldn’t put her to bed?” Bucky asked.

“While you’re still here? No. She’d throw a fit,” Clint answered. Amy started whimpering and shifting around until Bucky’s hand rubbed her back and she instantly settled down.

Clint returned to the compound four days later and was near the top of the steps when Amy rushed past him. “You’ll nevah take me alive!” Amy screamed her toy sword raised aloft. Her bare feet slapped against the concrete steps as she laughed and ran down them. She was followed shortly by Sam carrying a pair of socks and shoes.

“Come back here!” he answered. Clint watched her go confused. He dropped his bag on the landing then ran after them. He caught up with Sam and eventually they came across the command center just as there was a flash of green in the center of the room. Clint heard a mug shatter, a swear, then a small scream. Sam called, “stop the little one!”

There was another flash of green light and the little girl began to float through the air to the man in the middle of the room. “Put me down. I gots to run. The bad man wants to put shoes on the warrior princess. Shoes are bad for the princess,” Amy demanded. The man in the middle of the room set her down on the desk and touched her hand. Moments later his eyes landed on Sam and Clint as he touched Amy’s foot.

“Why are shoes bad for the princess?” he asked, running his thumb up the bottom of her foot.

“They keep my feet all locked up and they can’t breathe, but without shoes I can move them.” She wiggled her toes around. “Do I know you?”

“I am Loki, Prince of Asgard.”

“Then it is your royal duty to help the princess.” She giggled. “I said duty.” She giggled again.

“Why is that funny?”

“Duty, you know like doody. Uh … like um …” she looked around then leaned closer to him. “Like poop.”

“I see. And why is Wilson a bad man? He just wants you to wear shoes to protect your feet from getting hurt.”

“I told you. I like when my toesies can move. Now, by royal order of the Warrior Princess, put me down and get out of my way!” Amy demanded.

“Sit still or you’re going to fall, child,” Loki answered. Amy instantly stopped moving.

“What is going on in here?” Amy bit her lip as she looked back and saw a tall man just behind Clint.

Both Sam and Clint turned slightly to look. “Director Fury,” Sam answered. “I believe he appeared and startled an agent who dropped a coffee mug which shattered and the little one ran across it and cut her foot open and he is healing her.”

“And why are you here? Burdened with another glorious purpose?” Fury asked, turning to Loki.

“Banner and the Metal Head refused to tell me where Lady Amelia had gone off to so I have sunken to asking these ... humans where she is, but I see I’ve found her.”

“You did this to her?” Sam asked.

“No. I have never seen anything of the sort.”

“Brother,” Thor said, entering the room, “the Captain says … put the little one down.”

“As usual, you think so lowly of me. I do not intend to hurt her,” Loki answered. “Child, assure my brother you are in no danger.”

“He’s a prince. Princes aren’t evil,” Amy said softly.

“Clearly you’ve never seen  _ Frozen _ ,” Clint said.

“What’s  _ Frozen _ ?” Amy asked.

“Why don’t we take this upstairs?” Clint suggested.

“Not so fast. Who is the little one?” Fury asked.

“The granddaughter of a friend of a friend. You want to know more, ask the Captain. Come on, little one,” Sam answered the director before turning to the little girl. 

“No shoes,” she demanded.

“We’ll talk,” Sam answered. 

She looked up at Loki. “Down?” Amy asked. 

Loki looked at the bottom of her foot then lifted her off the desk to settle her on his hip. Though her foot was healed he didn’t want her running back across the broken mug and still hot coffee and undoing what he just did. He strode past Fury and the others and walked up the stairs. Fury watched him go then stared at the other three. Clint instantly went after him with Sam following shortly. Fury looked at Thor who shrugged and followed the rest of them upstairs. 

“Clean this mess up,” Fury ordered motioning to the spilled coffee and then he too went to the common room. 

“Trickster,” Bucky said as Loki sat Amy down on the couch.

“Soldier,” Loki answered. He sat on the couch next to Amy and Bucky sat on her other side.

“What brings you here?” 

“She did. About a month ago she called out to me and said that I better not be messing with her. It’s not often she calls out to me only once so I ignored it when she didn’t call again,” Loki said.

“A month ago?” Bucky asked. Steve, who was sitting in a recliner, looked up. 

“It was the last thing she said before she collapsed. Said she’d torture him if he was screwing with her,” Steve said.

“She said she’d make it look like a cake walk, though I have to admit I’m not sure what that means,” Loki said.

“Something that’s really easy. So easy a little kid can do it,” Amy piped up. Sam entered the room and Amy jumped up on the cushion and brandished her sword at him. “Back away and no one gets hurt.”

“Sit down and put your shoes on,” Bucky ordered. 

She looked at him and swallowed. “Yes, sir,” Amy said. She sat back down on the couch and put her sword down, offering her feet to Sam.

“So it took you a month to come check on her?” Bucky asked as Sam approached.

“Like I said, I didn’t take her seriously and we normally have a monthly meeting. When she only called for me only once, I did not believe it was serious and believed it could wait. I see I was wrong,” Loki admitted.

Sam looked at the bottom of Amy’s feet and saw no injuries. “She didn’t hurt herself?” Sam asked. He glanced at Loki.

“Burns and a small cut. I apologize for letting it happen, I am usually much more discreet when I enter a building where I’m not very welcome,” Loki said.

“I didn’t know you had healing powers,” Bucky said.

“I am quite gifted in a variety of areas. Many, I’m sure, she hasn’t mentioned to you,” Loki stated.

“Yes, well, I’ve never understood the connection the two of you share.”

“I assure you it is similar to the connection she shares with the speedster. Once you’ve been inside someone’s head it changes things.”

“Can you change her back?” Steve asked.

“No. Again, I’ve never seen this before. Though science and magic are closely related fields on my planet, I’m only an expert at one.”

“Certainly you can find something on this though, in a book or something?”

“I can look for her sake but that doesn’t mean I will find something.”

“Hey, kid, why don’t you go get your dance bag?” Bucky suggested. Amy slipped off the couch and went to find her bag. The minute she was out of the room Bucky pulled a dagger on Loki.

“Your threat of violence will not change my answered, Soldier. I do appreciate the depth of your concern for the Little Wolf though,” Loki answered calmly.

“What is going on?” Fury demanded.

“About a month ago, there was a riot and Amy got turned into a five year old. Banner and Stark are working on reversing it,” Steve explained.

“Has her family been notified?” Fury asked.

“We’re sure that they can turn her back before her family starts to worry. Unless of course, you’d like to tell him,” Bucky said.

“Tell her grandfather she’s been turned into a five year old? That’s a bad idea on every scale. I’d rather turn him loose on New York again,” Fury said after a moment and motioning to Loki when he said ‘him’.

“Her grandfather cannot be that fearsome,” Thor said.

“I should let you meet him some day. He is fiercely protective of her and doesn’t like losing her. I’m certain he’d turn the country upside down until he found who did this,” Fury explained.

“We’ve already figured that out and he’s not getting out of jail for a long time for doing this,” Bucky said.

Amy carefully made her way back to Clint’s side and squeezed his hand. “Yes, Little One?” he asked.

“I’m ready to go now. Will you take me?” Amy asked.

“How about I pick you up instead and take you out for dinner?”

“Happy Meal?”

“No junk food, Barton,” Bucky warned.

“I know what I’m doing. Go on, kid. Agents are waiting at the bottom of the steps for you,” Clint said. Amy reached up and he wrapped her in a hug. She also hugged Bucky, Steve, and Sam before turning to go.

“What? Am I not good enough?” Loki asked.

“Princes are picky about hugs. I didn’t want to assume,” Amy said softly. Loki motioned her over and she hugged him too. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Agent Hamilton took her bag and then crouched next to her.

“Ms. Millie this is my friend, Agent Trip. Agent Tempkin has some other work he had to do so Agent Trip will be escorting us for the rest of the week,” Agent Hamilton said.

“It’s nice to meet you, Agent Trip,” Amy said. She looked him over curiously. “Do I know you?”

“Don’t think so,” Trip answered.

“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Hamilton said. Amy nodded and followed them to the car.


	10. Clint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint spends some time with the little one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by these two photos

* * *

Clint slipped in the studio about three minutes before class ended and was slightly surprised to see Amy was the only one dancing. Though they had asked for that, it was easier to control when there were less people, there had been no guarantee from the teacher. What surprised him more was the new agent there. He hadn’t seen the dark skinned agent before but he looked familiar. Still, one couldn’t be too careful. The two agents met him at the door and he instantly pulled a gun on Agent Trip who responded in kind.

“Whoa, whoa, stand down,” Hamilton ordered.

“Mr. Clint,” Amy said. She raced towards him but Hamilton scooped her up and took a few steps away from both men. “Put me down, please,” Amy begged as politely as she could.

“Hold on, kid,” Hamilton answered. 

Amy bit down on his shoulder causing him to drop her.

“The little punk bit me.” Hamilton rubbed his shoulder.

“Mr. Clint,” Amy rushed to him and hid behind his legs, her hand fisting in his shirttail. 

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Clint said, reaching back with his free hand to rub her head.

Seeing how Amy responded to Clint, Trip holstered his weapon and held his hands up. “She trusts you. I do too. Though I really shouldn’t.

“Doesn’t mean I should trust you.”

“Coulson does.”

Clint stared at him a second longer before he too holstered his weapon. “He did always have a soft spot.” Amy squeezed Clint’s now empty hand nine times and he looked down, recognizing the SOS. “Yes, kid?”

“Teacher looks angry and I gotta potty,” Amy said.

“You handle that, I’ll take her,” Clint said motioning to the teacher. Trip reluctantly nodded. Clint grabbed Amy’s bag and she lead him to the bathroom. From there he got her into his car and took her to get a happy meal but insisted she eat the apple slices and drink the milk before she could have the toy. Once her meal was mostly finished her put his hand over hers as she played with her toy. “Listen,” he said causing her to look up at him, “since you don’t seemed to be going home any time soon, I was thinking that maybe we can go get you an actual bow to use. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“I like my nerf bow,” Amy said.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t you like a bow like mine? Like Merida’s?”

“Do you think Mr. Bucky and Pop-Pop would be okay with that?” She worried her lip between her little teeth.

“I think so.” Amy nodded and Clint cleared the table. From there he took her to the local archery shooting gallery to get her a beginners’ bow that he was sure she could use.

“Ah Barton, been a while,” the man behind the counter said.

“Yes, well I’ve been busy. This little one is Millie. We’re looking at getting her a recurve,” Clint answered.

“Well hello Ms. Millie.” The man looked over the counter down at Amy and smiled softly.

“Hi,” Amy answered waving at him.

“You’re adorable.”

“Thank you. Do you have one like Merida’s?” Amy asked.

“Our sales have gone up on bows because of that movie.”

“Does that mean you don’t have any?” Amy asked sadly.

“I didn’t say that, sweetie,” the man said.

“Come on, Tom. I’m not going to let her get hurt. She’s got a pro Archer teaching her.” Clint said. Clint lifted Amy so she could sit on the counter her feet draped towards him.

Tom looked from her to Clint and sized him up for a moment before looking back at the girl. “So, little one, how tall are you?” Tom asked.

“This tall,” Amy answered, putting a hand on her head.

“About 43 inches,” Clint added gently squeezing Amy’s leg. She shot him a wide grin.

“Ms. Millie, turn to face Clint and show me how much you love him,” Tom said.

“This much,” Amy spread her arms out wide and Clint took the toy from her right hand. Tom came around the counter and measured her arm span. He took a few more measurements and asked a few more questions then not more than five minutes later, he handed her a bow fit just for her. Clint picked her up and set her on her feet. She put the edge on the floor and looked up at Tom. “Is bigger than I is,” Amy said.

“I know but it’ll work just fine for you. Try it out,” Tom answered. Amy lifted the bow like she had been taught and dry fired it. “See?”

“Thank you, Mr. Tom,” Amy said.

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Tom said. “You know, she’s one of the most well behaved children I’ve ever had in here. Usually they’re all scream and crying and begging.”

“She’s been raised right.” Amy squeezed his hand. “Yeah?” Clint looked down at her. Amy motioned to her toy in his other hand. He handed the toy over and she gently ran it up and down and his leg as he turned back to Tom. “Treat her like she’s important with her own thoughts and feelings that are important and she’ll behave most of the time. Occasionally her feelings get a little overwhelming but for the most part she’s well behaved. Alright, kiddo, you ready to go?” Clint asked. Amy nodded and held her free arm up to Clint. He swung her up on his hip and paid for the bow before walking out with her. He figured the bow would make up for the missed birthday and Christmas presents he hadn’t gotten her. He had known her since he had rescued her at ten from Hydra and had been part of her life ever since but he had also been very busy with S.H.I.E.L.D. and that left little time for the girl. Not that she ever said anything about it but he knew it bothered her from time to time.

They got back to the compound to find Bucky and Sam reclining on the sofa watching something on TV while Steve worked through a thick stack of paperwork. “Look, Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, look what Mr. Clint bought me,” Amy said proudly, showing off the recurve bow.

“I see.” Bucky shot a glare over her head. “That was real nice of him. Did you tell Mr. Clint thank you?”

“Along with a five minute long hug,” Clint answered as Amy nodded.

“Mr. Clint, what’s _Frozen_ ? You said I hadn’t seen _Frozen_ when I said princes couldn’t be evil.”

“ _Frozen_ is a movie. You wanna watch it?”

“Can I have ice cream too?”

“How about cookies instead?”

“Okay.” Clint got a plate from the kitchen and put some cookies on it as Bucky set up the movie. When he returned to the living room he found Amy in the arm chair directly across from the TV. “Sit with me?” she asked, blinking up at him. Clint smiled and scooped her up settling her in his lap. When the movie ended, Amy stared at the screen. “How … how … he’s the bad guy?” Amy stammered.

“That’s tough, isn’t it?” Clint asked.

“But he’s a prince, he’s supposed to …” Amy stared at the screen.

“What about Kristoff?” Clint asked.

“He’s not a prince. He’s just a regular guy.”

“Doesn’t mean he can’t be good,” Clint answered.

“I know. Some of the best guys are normal. Like the ‘mandos. All of them ‘cept the Captain and Bucky were normal.”

“Did you like Olaf?”

“He’s funny.” Amy smiled.

“All right, Little One, it’s time for bed,” Bucky told her.

“But I’m not sleepy. I wanna watch again,” Amy whined.

“I know. Come on,” Bucky answered. 

“But—” Amy protested.

“Go on, get ready for bed, then come say goodnight, okay?” Clint suggested. He set her down on her feet on the floor and she frowned but followed Bucky back to her guest room. After using the bathroom and brushing her teeth, she got into her pajamas and went to say goodnight.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Three taps against his nose woke Clint from a deep sleep and had him whipping a gun from under his pillow and aiming it at the intruder. His eyes flew open and the instant he saw who was standing there he tucked the gun away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Clint asked.

Amy nodded then after a moment she shook her head. “I don’t want to go back to bed,” she muttered around Bucky Bear.

“Okay.” Clint wiped the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. “Come here,” he said. She held her arms out, one hand still wrapped around the bear’s paw and he pulled her to straddle his lap. “Was Bucky not up?”

“His door was locked. So was the Captain’s. I’m sorry I just—” Amy sniffed and hugged Bucky Bear closer.

“It’s okay,” Clint soothed. His hand gently ran up and down her back. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“No.”

“Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?”

“No.”

“Do you want to?”

She pulled back a bit and looked at him. “Right now?”

“Sure.” Amy nodded and Clint took her to the garage. “Okay, set Bucky Bear on the trunk. He’ll have a prime view from there. I need you to hold on with both of your hands.” Amy nodded and set Bucky Bear on the car trunk. Clint sat on the bike and set Amy in front of him. The bike roared to life and he began cruising up and down the garage going no more than 10 miles per hour. It wasn’t very fast but Amy held on tight until he pulled it back into the spot.

“That was fun. Can we go again?” Amy asked, letting a weak smile cross her face. Clint could tell she didn’t want to go back to bed.

“Maybe later. It’s time to go back to bed.”

“Oh okay, don’t forget Bucky Bear.” 

Clint grabbed the bear and Amy cuddled against him. She was fast asleep before he even got her back inside the compound. He checked her pull-up to make sure she was still dry then tucked her in. He kissed her forehead gently. “Goodnight, my sweet princess,” he whispered softly. Whenever Tony fixed this Clint was definitely going to miss this sweet, little girl.

Bucky went in to check on Amy at nine the following morning and found she was asleep. Instead of waking her, he went to breakfast. Amy did eventually wander out to them about half an hour later still in her Avengers PJs. Nat was the first one to look at her.

“Good morning,” the older redhead said.

“Morning.” She stood next to Sam’s chair and squeezed his hand. He looked down and she blinked. “Mr. Sammy, can we talk?”

“Sure. How about you eat breakfast first? Bucky’s got a bowl of Fruity-O’s with your name on them,” Sam said. He got up and put her in her booster seat.

Amy nodded and ate most of the cereal from the bowl. “Okay, done.” Amy looked up to Sam. He lifted her from the booster and took her back to the guest room to give her a bath.

“So, what happened?” Sam prompted as he washed her back.

“Had another nightmare. I got lost again. The room was small. No door or window. Why does this keep happening?” Amy played with her rubber ducky.

“I know that you know Bucky and the rest of the Avengers and your grandfather would never let you get lost but sometimes we fear things even if they could never happen. Your subconscious doesn’t realize what your conscious already knows.”

“My what? Huh?” She looked up at him.

“When you’re asleep, your dreams show you what you’re afraid of despite knowing that couldn’t happen. Your conscious mind, your brain when it’s awake, knows that we’d never let you get lost but your subconscious, your brain when it’s asleep, doesn’t know that.” Though really he knew that her dreams about being lost stemmed from her being kidnapped and held in a small cell, he knew that she’d never believe that and it was best that he gave her something that she could understand.

“Will my sub—sub—sleepy brain ever understand I’m safe?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. Maybe if we make you really sleepy at night then your subconscious will be too tired to think.”

“Oh, okay.” She looked back down at the duck and submerged him making him swim underwater for a moment or two.

The following day after breakfast, she walked into the living room to find only Loki sitting on the couch. “Have you seen Mr. Bucky?” she asked clutching the large book to her chest. In her small hand was the ear of Captain Ameri-Bear. 

“I haven’t. I think he may be in the gym with Captain Rogers and Wilson.”

“Oh, okay.” She looked down at the book in her arms.

“Did you want him to read that to you?” She nodded. “How about you read that to me?” He suggested closing his book. She looked unsure as she studied her book. “Would you prefer if I read it to you?”

“No, I can do it.” Amy insisted. She looked at the couch then at her book before setting both the book and the bear on the couch cushion. She straightened up the bear so he was sitting up then opened the cover of the book and flipped the pages. Loki watched her, interested. She continued to stand in front of the couch as she was looking through the book as though looking for the right story. Finally she landed on one called _Sleeping Beauty_. “Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a king and a queen. They had a baby girl known as Aurora. And so came the time for the King and Queen to announce the little girl to the world.” Loki watched her as she continued the story occasionally glancing at the story book. It didn’t take him long to notice that the words she was saying didn’t match the words on the page though the general story was the same. Instead of pointing this out he let her continue. “And then the prince kissed the princess waking her up and they lived happily ever after. The end.”

“That’s a very nice story, Little One,” Loki said. “Would you like me to tell you a story?”

“If you want to.” She shrugged. He observed her for a moment then pulled her onto the couch in his lap.

“Have you ever heard the story of _The Lords and The Bilgesnipe_?”

“What’s a bill-snipe?”

“Bilgesnipe. It’s a large beast looks a little like this.” Loki clapped his hands together then pulled them apart slowly creating an image of a bilgesnipe.

Amy stared at the image and pondered. “It’s kinda cute.”

“I guess.” He spun his story, using his magic to create images in the air. “A long time ago—”

“Once upon a time!” Amy insisted. “All great stories start with once upon a time.”

“Of course, my apologies. Once upon a time there lived three lords, each one bigger and more stubborn than the last. One day the King decided he would send the three of them on a quest.” The story went on as the images continued in front of her and she couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “At long last the lord overthrew the bilgesnipe and he fell from the bridge into the water below. The lords continued their mission and soon returned to the castle.”

“Did the bill-snipe die?” Amy asked pouting.

Loki saw the sad look and swallowed. “Uh—no. He floated down the river and found a forest to hide in.”

“That’s good. I was worried. I mean threatening people is bad and so is eating them but he was doing the only thing he knew. You can’t blame him for that.”

“I guess not.”

“That story sounds like _The Three Billy Goats_.”

“What are _The Three Billy Goats_?” Loki asked.

“ _The Three Billy Goats_. It’s a story about the three brothers who were goats. They had to cross a bridge ‘cause they were hungry and had no food on their side of the bridge. But under the bridge was a troll who was also really hungry. The two littler billy goats told him to wait for the next one ‘cause he was bigger, then the biggest billy goat challenged the troll and knocked him off the bridge and he fell into the water and found a cave to live in where he could eat all the bats he wanted. That’s what Pop-Pop says happened to him but when the General tells the story he doesn’t say what happens. Ant, the General’s grandson, says the troll drowns, which means he swallows a bunch of water and dies, but Pop-Pop says that Ant is trying to make me feel bad and scare me.”

“Little boys can be foolish.” 

“Pop-Pop says that too.” 

“Brother,” Thor said, coming in. 

“Yes?” Loki asked. 

“I see your researching has been interrupted.”

“Yes. The soldier disappeared and she wanted to read. How could I say no?”

“Excuse me, Mr. Thor,” Amy said.

“Yes, child?” Thor answered.

“Are you a prince too? Prince Loki is a prince and since you’re his brother that makes you a prince too right? Of Asgard.”

“I am. Did Loki read you a story?”

“He told me one about a bill—bill—bill-snipe and a couple of lords.”

“Our mother used to tell us that story.” 

“I read him a story too. _Sleeping Beauty_. It’s my favorite aside from the ‘mandos and Assno.” 

“Did you want something, Brother?” Loki asked irritated. 

“To see if you have found something. How is it going?” Thor asked.

“As you can see I’ve been a bit … distracted.” Loki nodded to the girl in his lap. 

“But certainly you got somewhere before she distracted you?”

“I have found no mention yet but I will continue to look just as soon as someone comes to look after the little one. It would be mighty irresponsible to just leave her alone.” 

“They didn’t leave me alone,” Amy looked up from where she was playing with Loki’s hands. “Mr. Clint got me dressed and said Mr. Bucky was in here but he wasn’t only Prince Loki was.”

“That is still irresponsible of them and I am not them,” Loki said.

“Despite being the god of mischief and chaos?” Thor asked.

“Yes. I love my tricks, as you call them, as much as the next man but abandoning a child is not something even I would do.” 

“What are you doing, little one?” Thor asked, turning his attention to the little girl. She was playing with Loki’s hands, pushing them together and pulling them apart. Every time they were apart her face would fall as if she expected something to happen and it didn’t. 

“He made the bill-snipe and the bridge and the sword fight. Why can’t I make it appear?” Amy asked.

“You’re not magic, Little One. Some of us on Asgard have magic powers and can make images appear out of thin air. You don’t have that power. My hands just focus the power, they don’t actually create it. I have to will it to appear,” Loki said.

“Can you create a dragon?” Amy asked.

“Of course, see?” He created a dragon and made it fly through the air coming to rest a few inches from her face. Amy reached up and gently cupped her hands around the dragon. “Careful, Little One, or he will disappear,” Loki warned. 

“He’s adorable. Can I keep him?”

“Afraid not. He’s not real.”

“Okay. Prince Thor, can you do magic too?” Amy asked, batting her eyes at him.

“Not in the same way. I can create lightning. Would you like to see?” Thor asked.

“Prince Loki see too?” Amy asked.

“My brother isn’t quite the fan.”

“Please, Prince Loki?” She turned her big green eyes to Loki who acquiesced. 

“Alright.” Loki stood and carried her to the window. Amy stared out the window and the clouds began to gather. Lightning flashed across the sky followed by the rumble of thunder. As more and more flashed across the sky, Loki noticed Amy begin to shiver even as she stared at it. “Brother,” Loki said softly. Thor looked at him then at the little girl and cleared the sky.

“So what do you think, little one?” Thor asked.

“That was impressive,” Amy said. “Prince Loki, can I get down? Please.” Loki set the girl down and she ran to the couch gathering Captain Ameri-Bear in her arms and burying her face in the top of his head.

“What—”

“Not everyone enjoys your light shows,” Loki interrupted his brother’s question.

“I see.” Thor walked over to the little girl and knelt in front of her. “Little Princess, I apologize if I scared you. It was not my intention.”

“I wasn’t scared, Prince Thor.” Amy said, though it was muffled by the bear in her arms.

“It’s alright to be scared. Even I get scared and I am the mightiest warrior in the nine realms.”

Amy peeked over the bear’s head. “You’re a warrior too?”

“I am. I have taken down many a warrior in my time.”

“Did you kill them?” Amy’s lower lip trembled.

Thor shifted uncomfortably. “Only when I had no other choice. I don’t like to kill but unfortunately it is a part of life.”

“That’s what Pop-Pop says too. He doesn’t like to talk about the war but when he does, Gammie won’t let him talk about killing.”

“It’s not something a little warrior princess should have to worry about. Would you like me to read to you?” Amy shook her head. “Play a game?” he asked. Again she shook her head. “Any way I can cheer you up?” Thor asked. He didn’t like the sad look on her face. He liked it even less when he realized he was the one who put it there. Amy shrugged. A green mist shaped like a puppy raced in circles around her and she laughed. Thor looked up feeling grateful for his brother. Loki kept her entertained until Pietro raced in.

“Go for a run?” he asked Amy. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Speedster.” Loki warned. 

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” Pietro answered. She scrambled up into his arms then settled on to his back. He took off and the brothers shared a look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in the next chapter you get to see why Clint is so protective and we finally find out who her grandfather is. 
> 
> Just want to give a short shout out to all of you who are still reading this. Thank you for your continued support.


	11. Pop-Pop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because one always needs a visit from their grandfather

A few days later Amy was playing Legos with Clint as Bucky read a book on the couch. “You gots to fort-fry it, Mr. Clint,” Amy instructed.

“He’s what?” Pietro asked in disbelief.

“Fort-fry?” Clint asked trying not to laugh.

“Yeah,” Amy insisted.

“What’s fort-fry?” Clint asked.

“Uh … you gotta um … make it bigger, stronger, so the Army and ‘mandos don’t escape.”

“Fortify,” Bucky said briefly looked up.

“That’s what I said, fort-fry.” Amy pouted angrily.

“Come on, Clint. Everyone knows that,” Nat said gently from the recliner.

“Right, of course,” Clint answered. He smiled at Amy then went to work making the structure bigger and stronger. “Is that better?” Clint asked when he finished.

“Uh huh.” Amy nodded. She shoved the army men inside and shut the door. Then she picked up her Captain Ameri-Bear and smashed him through the roof. She made him kick through the walls and pushed the army men out. “Go, go, run for the trees. I’ll destroy the bad guys and you get out of here,” she voiced the bear.

“What you playing there, kid?” Bucky asked. He set his book aside and watched her.

“Cap rescues ‘mandos from Assno.” She glanced up at him and grinned.

“The rescue was from Azzano and that is not how it happened,” Steve said.

Amy turned her gaze to Steve and rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said and yeah-huh. Pop-Pop says you blew up the building and told them to run for the trees,” Amy argued.

“Okay,” Steve held up a finger, “the building exploded but that wasn’t my fault and I never crashed through the ceiling. I went through the front door,” Steve told her.

“Oh,” Amy stared at her bear as her face fell and Steve felt bad but didn’t know how to fix it.

“It’s much cooler if you came through the ceiling, punk,” Bucky commented.

“Thank you, Agent Carter,” a soft voice said from the doorway. “Wow, never thought I’d say that again.” 

“Oh my pleasure, Colonel, General. If the two of you need anything else just ask,” Agent Carter answered. The man patted her arm and she stepped back. 

The Colonel looked over the living room and smirked at his companion then he raised his voice. “If I remember correctly, the first time we saw you, you were above us. Isn’t that right?” he asked the General standing next to him.

“I believe so yeah; just after he knocked out a Hydra soldier,” the General answered.

The little girl looked up as she recognized the voices. She dropped her bear as she grinned. “General! Pop-Pop!” Amy cheered. She bolted up and raced to them, sending toys flying.

“Hi, baby girl,” the Colonel said as he knelt and she plowed right into his open arms. Agent Trip, who had been standing behind him, placed a hand between the man’s shoulder blades to keep him from falling over backwards from the impact. The Colonel wasn’t as young as he once was and the girl was super excited.

“Dugan?” Steve asked in disbelief, standing up to greet his old friend. 

“Captain,” the Colonel answered.

“Since when are you a Colonel?” Steve asked.

“Since ‘63. Though it’s more of an honorary position. Why do you look so shocked to see me?” Dugan glanced back at Trip who helped him up with Amy still in her grandfather’s arms. “Certainly Bucky told you that I was still …” he trailed off seeing the look on Steve’s face.

“Bucky didn’t tell you anything did he?” The General asked.

That voice clicked in Steve’s head. “Jones? Gabe Jones?” Steve had taken a few steps across the room and had to sit down again.

“General,” Amy said, leaning towards him.

“Hello, sweetheart.” Jones tipped his head towards her and she kissed his cheek.

She pulled back, settling herself into Dugan’s arms. “Pop-Pop, did Gammie come too? Did you bring Cap-toons?” Amy asked, poking her grandfather in the shoulder as she stole his bowler cap off his head.

Jones laughed as Amy put the hat on her head and Dugan shook his head. “No to both those questions. Your friends don’t have Cap-toons? Stark has everything.”

“No, not even FRIDAY, his art-official Intel. She knows everything but not Cap-toons.” Amy pouted.

“You sure about that?” Dugan asked.

Amy nodded. “See watch. FRIDAY, play Cap-toons, please.”

“I’m sorry, young miss, I am unable to locate any show called Cap-toons,” FRIDAY answered.

“Probably ‘cause that’s not its official name,” Trip said.

“FRIDAY, play season one, episode six of _Captain America’s Power Hour_ _Cartoon_ ,” Dugan said.

The cartoon came on and Amy squirmed. “Down please,” Amy said. Dugan smiled and put her down. She raced to the TV and began singing [the theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSAk63gCIko) matching it word for word.

“Knows every word by heart?” Clint asked.

“She’d play the tape over and over and over. It was almost worn thin by the time the DVD came out,” Dugan answered. “‘Melia Grace.”

“Three steps back, I sorry,” Amy answered.

She took three steps backwards. “She had it on tape?” Clint asked.

“One of the Howlies gave it to her for her second birthday after she watched an episode of it at their place,” Dugan told them.

“I did. She and Trip loved it so much I got it for both of them,” Jones said.

“Have a seat,” Steve said, motioning to the empty chairs. He had moved back to his original chair. “I can’t believe they used _Star Spangled Man With A Plan_ as the theme song.”

“You gotta admit it’s kinda catchy,” Bucky said.

“Shut up, jerk,” Steve answered.

“None of you knew Cap-toons?” Dugan said.

“It came out in the 70’s and played reruns in the 80’s. I haven’t thought about it for years,” Clint said.

“I didn’t have much of a childhood in the Red Room,” Nat answered.

“We were kinda frozen during that time. And I tend to stay away from googling anything about us,” Bucky said. “So what exactly brings you here?” 

“I would have appreciated a call from you or Steve or even you, Barton, but no, I had to find out that for the past month and a half, my granddaughter has been five years old from Agent Trip here. You’re better than this,” Dugan said. He motioned to Agent Trip as he glared across the room at Bucky.

“I don’t know if you’ve met my grandson, Antoine Triplett,” Jones said. Agent Trip stood behind his grandfather’s chair.

“To be fair only Bucky knew who you were so I couldn’t exactly call,” Steve said.

“What’s your excuse, Sarge?” Dugan asked.

“Tony’s working on fixing it and I didn’t want you to worry about it,” Bucky said.

“You got an excuse, Barton?”

“His girlfriend, his problem.”

“Your daughter, your problem?” Dugan spat right back. “Don’t go creeping, Missy.” Amy had been taking baby steps towards the TV. If Dugan didn’t stop her, she’d stand right up against the TV and press her nose to the glass. At his command, Amy instantly jumped back to her previous spot.

“Daughter?” Steve asked staring at Clint.

“Haven’t been all that great of a father. Thanks, none of them knew that,” Clint answered first Steve then Dugan. Steve looked around the room to see neither Bucky nor Natasha looked shocked but he could tell that they hadn’t known. In fact it looked like no one had known about this.”

“You’re her—” Bucky started. “How long have you known?”

“Since she was 10. They DNA tested her at Director Carter’s insistence to make sure she was who we thought she was after we rescued her. To do that they compared it against her grandfather’s and her grandmother’s DNA. We didn’t have a sample of her mom’s but since Mrs. Dugan was her maternal grandmother the mDNA I think is what they called it, should be the same. It’s how they trace maternal lines. Something went wrong when they were testing the DNA and the computer program compared it against not only those two but against every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on record. The lab tech must have ticked the wrong box or something. Anyway the results came back that she was indeed their grandchild but it also showed she was my child. She knows but doesn’t say anything,” Clint said.

Then something else hit Steve. “Did she call you General, Jones?” Steve asked.

Jones grinned. “Yep. Started out the lowest ranking Commando, ended up being the highest,” Jones answered.

“So Agent Trip what gives you the right to call—” Bucky started.

“I called my grandfather, he called Colonel Dugan. I fear him more than I fear you, Sergeant Barnes. She’s four years younger than me. I practically grew up with her. We’re two of the only Howlie grandkids, the only ones from the original Commandos, I owe her that,” Trip answered.

“Two of?” Steve asked.

“I’m Jones’ only grandkid, she’s Dugan’s, and I think Happy Sam and Pinkerton both have one. Morita’s son doesn’t have any kids, Monty didn’t have kids before his heart attack, you two don’t have any, and Denier’s kids were killed with him in a car crash in the late 70s,” Trip said.

“Pinkerton has two,” Jones corrected.

“Morita has a kid?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah, he’s a principal at a school in Queens. I think it’s called Mid-Town Tech,” Trip said.

“Isn’t that the name of the school Spider-kid goes to?” Bucky asked.

“I think so,” Steve said.

“So, how exactly are you going to fix this?” Dugan asked.

“Stark’s working on it,” Bucky told him.

“Amelia Grace, if I have to tell you again—” Dugan said.

“You’ll turn the TV off,” Amy finished for him sadly.

“Come sit with me, kid,” Clint told her. Amy walked over to him and plopped down in his lap. 

“She dive bomb you?” Dugan asked.

“What?”

“Amy. We call it dive bombing when she plops down in your lap.”

“Yeah, but it’s fine.” When that cartoon finished, the next one started and Dugan looked around the living room.

“’Melia, is this your mess?” He asked.

“No. Capi-Bear made it.”

“’Melia,” Dugan warned.

“But …”

“Amelia.”

“But toon—”

“You can still watch toon but you have to clean up okay?” Clint suggested.

“No. Toons!” Amy demanded, jumping up from his lap.

“Start to clean up or no more cartoons,” Clint answered.

“Don’t wanna.” She came so closed to stamping her foot. Everyone’s attention turned to her.

“You’ve been so good lately, come on, Millie. Do you want to go to dance this afternoon?”

“No.”

“Alright someone needs a nap,” Dugan said.

“No. No nap!” This time Amy did stamp her foot then took off towards the stairs. There was a whistling sound and a net barricaded across the top of the stairs.

“Amelia Grace Portland. Come here,” Dugan ordered. Amy continued to stare at the net as Clint lowered his bow into his lap. No one was shocked to see him pull it from under the couch. “If I have to get up—” Amy turned to her grandfather and stared him down. “Amelia, I will bust your butt.” Then the tears started. “Come on, cut it out.” Dugan motioned her over and Amy glared at him before running to Bucky. She face planted in his lap and gripped his pants. Bucky ran his hand down her back and reached under her arms. With the hopes of being picked up, Amy lifted her head and let go. Bucky picked her up and reluctantly gave her to Dugan. The last thing he wanted was for her grandfather to be overly strict with her but he knew Dugan had somewhat mellowed out over the years. Dugan set the little girl on his knee and wrapped a gentle arm around her. It was time to calm her down and then talk about it. It had always worked in the past. “Come now, quit being stubborn with the tears. You know you’re not in trouble. I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

Amy sniffled. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her grandfather. “You’re not? What about Mama? Mr. Captain said she was sick again so you had go look after her. Now you’re here to take me home.”

“No sweetie,” he wiped away her tears, “we’re going to stay here for a while. Your friends have done a pretty good job looking after you for the last month or so. There’s no reason to leave so soon,” Dugan said.

“You’ll stay? Me stay too?” She sniffled.

“Yeah. Did you think we’d be leaving? Or that I’d drop by and just up and leave you again? How could I ever leave you?”

“You already leaved.”

“That why you threw the tantrum? Bad girls get attention?”

“Worked didn’t it?” Amy asked softly.

“I taught you better than that. I’ll give you all the attention you want, you just have to ask.”

“Don’t like cleaning up.”

“Yeah but do you like getting hurt when you step on your toys? Do you like seeing Pop-Pop get hurt or break your toys when he steps on them?” Dugan asked.

“No, sir.” Amy stared at her lap. Dugan pulled the hat off the girl’s head and tipped her head up.

“Then what do you have to do?” Dugan asked, wiping away the last of her tears.

“Clean up?”

“That’s my girl. Clean up and then we can have lunch.”

“Okay.” Amy nodded and got up to clean up.

“How’d you know she was mostly faking?” Bucky asked.

Dugan shook his head. “I didn’t really but sometimes they make a fuss about cleaning up because they’re scared it means something else.” For the first few months after going back to live with her mom, clean up meant that Dugan and his wife Grace were leaving and she’d be alone with her mom. It had taken a while for him to convince her that it wasn’t a bad thing and that he’d be back.

“But the tears weren’t real?” Bucky asked.

“They probably were to an extent but she was also scared. That and she was mad. I don’t know, sometimes you just know.” Dugan couldn’t really explain it but sometimes he just got the feeling about Amy’s emotions and her reasoning.

“Done, Pop-Pop,” Amy said, reappearing at his knee. Dugan put his hat back on her head and it slid down over her eyes. “Pop-Pop!” Amy whined. She pushed the hat back to see him grinning. “Pop-Pop, how come they make fun of me when I don’t say the words right?” Amy asked.

Dugan’s face fell. “You making fun of my little girl?” Dugan asked, looking around the room.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Clint answered. “She asked me to fortify the Lego base but she said fort-fry and I didn’t understand what she meant. I should have been clearer in asking her to explain it. I’m sorry.”

“Alright, Kiddo?” Dugan asked. Amy nodded. “Now, let’s get some lunch in you.”

“Pizza?” Dugan gave her an exasperated look and she frowned not liking it. “Nut buttah?”

Dugan smiled. “That’s my girl. Ask Bucky.”

Her attention swung to the soldier. “Mr. Bucky-Buckaroo, do you have any pea—” she pouted, eyebrows drawn. “Pea—peanut buttah? Did I say it right?” She looked at her grandfather hopefully. He nodded. “Do ya?” Amy asked, turning her wide eyed stare back to Bucky.

“I think we can find some. She like smooth at this age too? I’ve found out that her tastes are real different at this age than when she’s bigger,” Bucky said. Bucky stood.

“Yeah. It’s the only kind Gracie buys,” Dugan said.

“White bed and gape jelly,” Amy insisted.

“Peanut butter with white bread and grape jelly,” Bucky confirmed. “Coming?” He offered Amy his hand and she took it following him to the kitchen.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Dugan said to Clint as the rest meandered towards the kitchen.

“Do you now?” Clint answered.

“Yes because I’m thinking it too. _“What if instead of turning her back, we let her enjoy the five years that were stolen from her the first time around? What if we give her a childhood that none of us had, except maybe Wilson and Barnes?”_ You can’t think like that. She wouldn’t want that. You want to make up for what you haven’t done in the past, you try to figure out what she’d want.”

“All she wants is peanut butter and her toys.” The colonel’s look shot straight through him and both knew that’s not what meant. “In her deepest dreams maybe she’d want to start over but …”

“Be honest, she’s come to terms with what she has.”

“Yeah, she says that.”

“And if she remembers this then she’ll remember how well you took care of her but she’ll be more grateful that you let the adult her come back. Spend time with the woman she’s become, that’s what she’ll appreciate the most.”

“I know,” Clint said. “Besides it could be weeks before Tony figures this out.”

“Pop-Pop, what’s the word Gammie says when I don’t look good?” Amy asked. “Says I gots to do it after I go too?”

“Flushed,” Dugan said to her then he looked back at Clint. “Or it could be today.”

“Yeah, Mr. Tony, you look flushed. Maybe you’ll feel bettah aftah you eat. How about some nut buttah? Gammie makes me some nut buttah and I always feel bettah,” Amy told Tony who was crouched beside her chair. “I’ll even share my sammich if you don’t want your own.” She offered him her sandwich holding it just in front of his mouth.

Tony took her wrist gently and moved it away. “Thanks, kid but I’m good. Really, I promise. After lunch I’m going to let you help me test the project I was working on. How’s that sound?”

“If it’s okay with Pop-Pop,” she said. Bucky called her name and she turned back in her seat towards the table to eat her sandwich. Tony looked around and saw Dugan.

“Colonel,” Tony said, standing and meeting him in the living room.

“Tony, it’s been a while,” Dugan answered.

“Yes, been busy.”

“You’ve figured it out haven’t you?”

“Yes. I can understand if you want to put it off for a few more days. She’s a sweet kid and it’s been a while since she was that little but—”

“It’s not what she’d want. Let me talk it over with Bucky and Steve but get it set up,” Dugan said. “Tony, she was right about one thing. You do look a bit off. Are you eating and sleeping alright?”

“I’m fine.” Tony brushed him off.

As Amy napped that afternoon, Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Dugan talked. They all knew it was the right thing to do but they were wary if it would work right. “There are always going to be risks with things we don’t understand especially with what Hydra did to her but this is the right thing,” Steve said.

“I agree. If Amy understood what was going on, I know she’d take that chance. I miss my girl. It’s not the same,” Bucky added.

“What if it doesn’t work or it hurts her? Do you really want to see her in pain?” Clint asked.

“Stark took a blood sample when we put her down. Just got the results, she’s not aging. We don’t at least try this, she’ll be stuck as a five year old forever. Do you want that?” Bucky asked.

“Are you sure she isn’t just aging much slower than normal like the two of you?” Clint asked.

“He’s sure. Bruce double checked.”

“Dugan?” Steve asked.

“I do miss the happy five year old she was and I never thought I’d ever get to see that again outside home videos and my memories but I miss her understanding. It needs to happen,” Dugan said.

“Alright, when she wakes up,” Clint reluctantly agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest, how many of you saw Dugan as her grandfather? How many didn't? In the next chapter, will Tony's and Bruce's invention work? Won't it?


	12. Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony's project may or may not work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything in Bold Italics is happening inside her head.

Amy woke to Dugan sitting on the edge of her bed after her nap. “Hi, Pop-Pop,” she said, sitting up and yawning slightly.

Dugan smiled. He was going to miss this little girl. However as much as he loved this little girl and missed seeing her outside photos and his memories, he missed the adult version of her a bit more. “Hi. You ready to help Tony?” Dugan asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded excitedly.

“Okay. First we have to change your clothes. You don’t want to get these ones all dirty and greasy.”

“Okay.” Amy pulled her shirt off and raised her arms for her grandfather. He pulled a large shirt over her head. It fell down below her knees when she stood. “It’s too big, Pop-Pop.”

“I know but it’ll keep you clean. Sit.” Amy plopped down on the bed and Dugan swapped her pants and underwear for a pair of Bucky’s boxers. Dugan picked her up and took her to the lab. He sat her where Tony indicated.

She swung her legs back and forth holding tightly to Hawkeye Bear’s paws until Tony walked over. He crouched in front of her balancing himself with one hand on the table she was sitting on. The other hand he placed on the bear’s head. “Okay, kid, I need you to sit here and sit still. It’s like a big camera. I just need to take a picture. Hawkeye Bear can sit right over there and then there will be a flash. That’s all I need.” Tony motioned to the desk next to the machine where Hawkeye Bear could sit. The last thing he needed was for the bear to interfere with the laser and it not work right.

“Why can’t I hold Hawkeye Bear? I’m brave but Hawkeye Bear isn’t so much.” Though the look in her eyes was determined and brave, he could tell her voice wobbled a little.

Tony felt bad. He knew that the unknown was scary, especially when you were really little. The sooner he got this fixed the better for everyone. He just had to convince her of that. “He’ll be okay right over there. I think he’ll be braver over here.”

Amy nodded reluctantly. “Can Pop-Pop stay?” She looked up at Dugan who was standing next to the table.

“We’ll be right over here. It’s just one flash of light and then we’ll be right back,” Dugan assured her motioning to where Wanda, Jones, Trip, Steve, Nat, and Clint stood just outside the lab doors. Bruce and Bucky were looking at the machine.

“Why do you have to go?” Amy frowned as she squeezed the bear’s paws.

Dugan frowned. “You remember when you hurt your foot?” Dugan asked. “How I had to take you to the hospital and they took that picture of your foot but Gammie and I couldn’t be in the room?”

“They said it wouldn’t hurt but it could be bad for growed ups. Is that why you can’t stay this time either? The camera doesn’t work on growed ups?” Amy asked.

“That’s it exactly. Tony and I have to go outside the doors so it’ll work properly and all you have to do is look at it. Show Hawkeye Bear how brave you can be,” Dugan told her. Amy nodded and sat up straight putting on the bravest face she could. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you too, Pop-Pop.” Dugan hugged her then Bucky did too. Tony took the bear from her and sat it by the laser as Bucky reassured her it would be okay. Everyone gathered outside the lab and once the door slid shut Tony hit the button to activate the laser. There was a sound like it was warming up then a bright flash followed by the lights going out in the lab.

“FRIDAY, report,” Tony demanded.

“All power is out in the lab, even my system is off. I cannot get a reading inside,” the AI said.

“Backup generator?”

“It is kicking in but it will take several minutes to get back online. I am reading a heat signature inside, though,” FRIDAY answered.

Then there was a long scream from inside. Dugan and Bucky both attempted to pull the door open but it wouldn’t budge. Bucky shot him a look and Dugan stepped back. Bucky lifted his left fist and punched the door. “It’s not going to break. It’s not glass,” Tony said. Even though the doors and walls looked like glass it was a resistant plastic that had been created to keep the walls intact and protect the rest of the compound if something went wrong. “FRIDAY.”

“Five minutes until reactivation of my systems, Boss,” FRIDAY informed him.

There was more screaming from within. Steve set a hand on Bucky’s right shoulder as Bucky rubbed where the metal met the flesh of his left shoulder. It hadn’t bothered him in years, not since he had the one from Hydra removed and replaced by one Tony had made. It bothered him even less so when that one had been replaced by a Wakandan one. Occasionally, he got phantom pain after a nightmare but right now he was just worried. His ears perked when the screaming stopped but it would still be two minutes before the power came back on in the lab. The door hissed open and Dugan was the first one through it. He made his way to Amy with Bucky hot on his heels. Dugan knelt next to the table she was laying on and was grateful that she looked like she had three months ago when he saw her last and there were no injuries that he could see.

“Amy? Amy, honey, can you hear me?” Dugan asked. He reached forward and felt for a pulse.

“Boss, her pulse is steady but her breathing is weak,” FRIDAY reported.

“Alert medical that we’re coming down and monitor her. Report any changes,” Tony ordered. Dugan stepped back and Bucky scooped her up moving quickly to move her to the medical wing.

Once Bucky laid the now adult Amy on the bed the doctors pushed him, the rest of the Avengers minus Bruce, and both Commandos out of the room. They all took seats except Bucky who paced the hallway waiting for an answer. “She’s going to be fine, Buck,” Steve tried to console. Bucky looked at him for a brief moment before returning to pacing.

There was a flash behind him as he turned to pace back down the hallway and Bucky turned back to look. Loki stood there watching him. “Spit it out,” Bucky demanded.

“Nothing to say,” Loki answered.

“Trickster,” Bucky warned.

“Ah, small correction. I have nothing to say. Someone else is trying to if you stop sulking long enough to hear.” Loki smirked. His expression didn’t change even when the soldier glared at him. “Listen,” Loki insisted. 

Bucky sighed and went still. It took a moment but then he heard it, the soft voice in his head.  **_“Hello? Can you hear me? Bucky? Where are you?”_ ** it asked.

“How do I help her?” Bucky asked.

Loki rolled his eyes. Sometimes Midgardians were so useless. Loki had always expected better from the soldier that his Wolf had spoken so fondly of but at times he was just as bad as the rest. “Focus on that feeling. On her voice. She’ll follow you back,” he advised.

Bucky closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall.  **_“Amy, can you hear me?” He asked in his head. As he tried to look around and see her he noticed it was dark. Usually when Amy was in his head he could see a landscape she painted. Sometimes it was the lawn at the compound, sometimes his bedroom at the tower, and often his favorite, an old diner him and Steve used to visit. This time it was too dark to see anything._ **

**_“Bucky, help me,” she called to him._ **

**_“I’m here, doll. Tell me where you are,” he coaxed. That’s when he realized he couldn’t see her either. It was just like a disembodied voice._ **

**_“I’m not sure, it’s dark.”_ **

**_“Focus. Move towards my voice.” Slowly a picture started to form in his head. It looked familiar the more he looked around. He was standing in a vast backyard, a dark colored house in front of him. It was large and had a wrap-around porch. Amy was standing at the bottom of the porch steps looking at him. He smiled and motioned to the house. Amy turned and looked up at the house._ **

**_“I’ve been here before. It looks …” Amy bit her lip as she tried to figure it out._ **

**_“Come on, you know where you are.” Bucky smiled softly._ **

**_“I’m … It’s Pop-Pop’s house. There’s the swing and the rocker. Why am I here?” There was a wooden rocker on the porch, one that her grandfather spent a lot of in watching as she played in the back yard. Behind her, in an old tree was a wooden plank swing._ **

**_“Why do you think?”_ **

**_“I’m safe here. Always feel safe here.” They sat down on the steps. “I’m scared.” Amy drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. Bucky knew instantly that she was terrified. The last thing he wanted to do was present a threat so he folded his hands in his lap trying not to scare her any more than she already was._ **

**_“Of waking up?” Bucky asked._ **

**_“I could see everything when I was little. It’s like I was in fog or something. I could see and hear but I wasn’t able to do anything. I tried reaching out but no one could hear me. I’m surprised you can hear me now.”_ **

**_“Couldn’t at first. Then Loki told me to listen. Don’t you want to wake up?”_ **

**_“I’m scared. What if when I wake up nothing’s changed? What if I’m still little?”_ **

**_“Your body’s not. You looked fine and I’m sure Stark is good and Banner helped him. I’m sure mentally you’ll be fine too. Your granddad is here. Jones too.”_ **

**_“I know. Sawyer would have come if he wasn’t in the UK.”_ **

**_“Then you of course know Agent Trip?”_ **

**_“Yeah, we kinda grew up together. I only got to see him when he was with his grandfather and you were out of town but he is a good guy. Works for Coulson now. Usually on the West Coast.”_ **

**_“It’s going to be okay. Come back to us and I’ll help you through anything. Childish mentality or trauma. Plus Loki is here and he wants to see you.”_ **

**_“I won’t promise anything but I’ll try.”_ **

**_“Oh so he can get you to come back but I can’t?”_ **

**_“Well he is more handsome than you,” Amy smirked._ **

**_“Take that back.” Bucky dug his finger into her side and she laughed._ **

**_“Okay maybe not but he is—”_ **

Her voice trailed off as Steve called his name. Not for the first time he felt irritated at his best friend. “Bucky. Buck. Man, come on,” Steve called.

“What?” Bucky asked, glaring at his best friend.

“Bruce says we can see her.” Steve jerked his head towards the door and Bucky did his best not to snap that he had just been talking to her. Instead he buried his emotions and followed. Dugan and Jones were both already sitting in chairs by her bed and Amy was laying there looking peacefully asleep while the rest of the Avengers were spread through the room. The only way to tell she wasn’t just asleep was the oxygen mask over her face. Where a cannula would work for most people, it wouldn’t work for Amy since she didn’t get much air through her nose.

“Doc says she’s going to be fine when her breathing recovers. His theory is that she isn’t used to having lungs quite as big so it’ll take her a while to breathe in as much air as she needs.” Dugan told him as Bucky took her right hand in his.

“Mentally, she’s scared. Thinks she may not be all there when she wakes up,” Bucky said.

“Wanda?” Steve asked. Most eyes turned to the woman.

She flicked a tendril of red magic towards the prone figure and looked through her mind. “I do get fear and worry but at the same time …” Wanda trailed off and shook her head. “She also feels safe and comfortable.” 

“Any time she feels scared her mind goes back to her safe place,” Bucky said.

“Where’s that?” Steve asked.

“Can’t tell. I can fill you full of emotion, make you see what you fear the most but I can’t read much more than emotions. That’s her job,” Wanda said.

“You saw inside her mind,” Loki said to Bucky.

Bucky looked at Dugan as his only answer. The Colonel got it instantly. “My place. She practically grew up there,” Dugan said.

“Even after what happened?” Steve asked.

“She lived with her mother when that happened. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sweet Elizabeth but she gave up a good thing to chase the wrong man and ended up destroying her life. It was part of the reason she gave up custody when we got Amy back,” Dugan said. His eyes darted to Clint then back to Amy.

“You think she blames Amy?” Clint asked.

“I wouldn’t say she blames her, I think Beth thinks if Amy hadn’t come along things would have been better. Honestly, if she had never met Richard then she would have been fine.”

“How can anyone say that about Amy? She’s a good kid,” Clint defended.

“I don’t know.” Dugan shrugged.

Days passed for Dugan and Bucky in a blur of sunrises and sunsets. Jones had decided to go home with strict instructions to call when she awoke. Occasionally an Avenger or two would pop in for a few hours but only Dugan, Bucky, and Loki were constantly in her room. One day, about two weeks later while Trip had taken Dugan to get lunch and then for a stroll and Bucky had been coerced into going for a run, Loki was left alone in her room. The mask had been removed the day before letting her breath on her own. 

Loki reached out and touched her blanket covered foot. Instantly he went tumbling through her mind. He righted himself to see the same thing Bucky had, Dugan’s large home in Boston but instead of Amy sitting on the steps, a little girl was sitting on the swing. She was slowly swaying back and forth, her hands wrapped around the ropes holding the wooden plank swing in the tree. She reminded him a lot of the little girl he had told a story to a few weeks ago.

**_“Hi there,” Loki said. He stood a few feet from her as she dragged her feet back and forth in the dirt under the swing._ **

**_“Hi. Are you friends with Pop-Pop?” she asked, looking up at him._ **

**_“Not really. Are you having fun?”_ **

**_“Will you push me?” she asked, ignoring his question._ **

**_“Sure.” Loki stepped behind her and began pushing her. “I know you’re scared. It’s okay to be scared. You can’t succeed until you know how scared you are.”_ **

**_“I’m not scared. I know I’m safe. I know I’m loved. I even know that I have to grow up.” The little girl planted her feet and the swing stopped. “She’s scared.” The little girl jerked her head to the house. Loki looked out of the corner of his eye to see a young woman standing in the doorway watching the young girl._ **

**_“What’s she scared of?” He moved around in front of the little girl who beckoned him closer. Loki leaned down._ **

**_“Looking like her, thinking like me.” Her voice was soft but Loki heard every word. He knelt in front of her and looked up at her. Maybe the best way to get through to her was to appeal to the little girl. Though he was loath to get his clothes dirty, getting on her level would work the best and the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was just a figment of her imagination and it wasn’t actually real, well, at least, the dirt wasn’t._ **

**_“There’s nothing wrong with thinking like you,” he explained._ **

**_“No, but she needs to think like you too.”_ **

**_Loki looked away from the little girl at the young woman again. “The only way to tell how she thinks is for her to wake up.”_ **

**_“What if she looks like her but thinks like me?” The little girl seemed as though she was just stating a fact but Loki knew that it was one of Amy’s greatest worries. Every time he looked at her adult self just inside the screen door he could feel a wave of anxiety and fear emanate from the little girl. He could see now that the little girl was her emotional epicenter but had the rationale the adult Amy seemed to possess. Appealing to that would help._ **

**_“I’ll help her through that. So will the rest of her friends. Will she talk to me?” The young girl shrugged. Loki touched her shoulder and the girl disappeared. Loki reached down and used his hand to push himself up. That’s when he realized he was in his armor minus his helmet. Definitely not what he was wearing in her room._ **

**_“Interesting choice of garb,” he said as he mounted the stairs._ **

**_“It’s what you were wearing the first time I saw you.”_ **

**_Loki leaned against the column supporting the roof and smirked. “When I turned two of SHIELD’s brightest into my own personal flying monkeys?”_ **

**_“No. New Mexico. When you tried to lift the Hammer and couldn’t.”_ **

**_“I was not wearing this when I tried to lift it.”_ **

**_“My day dream, leave me alone.”_ **

**_“I was wearing something more like this.” He snapped his fingers and appeared in a dress shirt, slacks, and a dark green trench coat. “I didn’t know you could see me.”_ **

**_“I wasn’t supposed to be near the 0-8-4 but I was curious. Clint was so angry when he found out I had been down there. He brought me along against Fury’s recommendation, and my grandfather’s, and I broke the one condition. ‘_ ** **You can be on site, but I don’t want you anywhere near this thing** **_,’ was what he told me. I was trying to see if it would help broaden my powers. I could feel you. Like I could feel most people back then: no specific thoughts but generalizations. Your mind felt different. I watched you. At least you didn’t cry like your brother. When he couldn’t lift it, he bawled like a baby. Ask Clint.” Amy stepped out onto the porch and sized him up._ **

**_“I know. I watched him.” He changed the subject. “It’s alright to be scared.”_ **

**_“I heard everything you told her. She is me after all.” Amy smirked._ **

**_“You once told me I wasn’t hopeless and that I could go from victim to hero in seconds. I just had to want it. You and the Parker boy have showed me a lot of good. Showed me what I never saw. I won’t leave you. Neither would the soldier. He loves you.”_ **

**_“It doesn’t stop me from worrying.”_ **

**_“Nothing’s going to. You’re going to worry until you take that step. You need to wake up, Little Wolf.”_ **

**_“What if I don’t?”_ **

**_“I can make you.”_ **

**_“You wouldn’t.”_ **

**_“I could.”_ **

**_She stared at him for a moment. Part of her thought the way he was going to make her is by leaving. “Don’t leave me.”_ **

**_“I don’t like leaving those I care about.” Loki looked around wondering how to help. “My mother would like to see you,” he said softly._ **

**_Amy rolled her eyes. “So would your brother and my grandfather and a long list of people. But it’s not about what they want; it’s about what I want.”_ **

**_“No,” Loki shook his head, “it’s about what you’re afraid of.”_ **

**_“I’m not afraid of anything.” She stared him down angrily._ **

**_Loki smirked. “The thing about pulling me into your mind is I can see what’s in the upstairs’ window. The one spot you keep what you fear. When you look in that field, what do you see?”_ **

**_“That field doesn’t actually exist.”_ **

**_“In your mind it does, just not in real life.”_ **

**_“I see them. Not all at the same time and not always so clearly, but they’re there.”_ **

**_“Do they say anything?”_ **

**_“They talk to themselves. To each other really,” she corrected, “almost as if I’m just here to listen. Sometimes they drone on about their day, about what we’re going to do when I wake, but they don’t push.”_ **

**_“And in that window? What do you see?”_ **

**_She licked her lips then looked down at her hands. “A shelf.”_ **

**_“What’s on the shelf?” Loki pressed again. Amy glared at him for a second then walked down the steps of the porch and over to the tree swing. Loki followed slowly. She didn’t look up at the window but he knew it was becoming the focus of her mind. Amy sat down on the swing and the house melted away becoming a window. Just a single window. The one that had belonged to her bedroom as a child. “Amelia,” Loki pushed a bit._ **

**_“You want to know so much, you look,” she finally snapped back at him._ **

**_“I already know what I’m going to see.” Suddenly Amy was standing in front of him, her hands on his shoulders and with a giant shove the field melted into the hospital room._ ** “You can’t hide in there forever,” he whispered to her prone form. It was instantly that he knew her answer to that.  _ Watch me. _

Bucky returned to the room first and looked between the pair. Loki was sitting in his chair at the end of the bed with a book in his lap looking quite innocent, but studying him, led Bucky to understand he had done something. Especially since the prince looked paler than usual. “What did you do?” Bucky asked exasperated.

“Bold of you to assume I did anything,” Loki answered not looking up from his book.

“Not an assumption if it’s true.”

“If being the operative word there.”

“Be frank with me, Loki, I am not your brother and I will not look down upon you.”

“But you are overly protective.”

“Do you blame me?”

Loki finally looked up and sighed. “Of course not. What’s that saying? A leopard can’t change its spots?” He smirked.

“Loki.”

“I pushed. Maybe a little too hard. I was unprepared for her pushing back.”

“What did you see?”

“A box on a shelf. A broken doll all alone in that box with no other toys.”

“Abandonment, it’s been her biggest issue. I don’t know how to fix it.” Bucky shook his head as Dugan returned.

“Fix what?” Dugan asked, settling into his chair. Bucky motioned to Amy. “Oh. She’s not ready yet. When she is, she’ll wake and we can help her. She’s not exactly broken though.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that she’s hurt and I only wanted to help,” Bucky said. Dugan nodded and they fell back into silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I totally meant to have this entire story finished in less than a month but it doesn't seem to have worked. Should be done soon though. Let me know what you think, please.


	13. Wake up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which waking up is a good thing

Over the next two days the rest of the Avengers took time sitting with her, each trying in their own way to convince her to wake up. Even Peter stopped by to see her. Nothing worked until the third day when Steve sat down next to her bedside and asked for a few moments alone with her. Bucky helped Dugan up and they took a walk catching up as Steve ran his fingers over Amy’s left arm. He trailed them down from the star tattoo on her shoulder to the Howling Commando logo below it, over the elbow and down to her wrist and hand.

He twined their fingers together, her palm face up pressing against his and gently squeezed. “I don’t need to see your safe place and I don’t want to be inside your head. What I need and want is for you to come back. Not just for Bucky, Pietro, or even Loki. I need you. You’ve done so much good for me and I can’t lose another person I care about.” He said softly as he stared at her manicured nails that he held around his own hand. It briefly hit him how small her hand looked in his but not as small as it had over the past couple of months. “Even if you deserve a break, this isn’t how you want to spend it. You want one, I can help convince them to send you and Bucky, or even just you, on an all-expenses paid vacation anywhere in the world. Or even to Asgard if you want to go there. You have to know that you are safe here. That I’d never let anything happen to you and I’d never abandon you. Please come back.” He laid his head on their arms and looked at her face. She looked so peaceful. “If there is anything I can do to help, to convince you further please tell me.” He continued to hold her hand and watch her but not once did he see those green eyes flicker. He was mostly asleep when he felt movement on the bed but he was too asleep to look up. Besides it wasn’t as if many people could get passed the guards in the hall.

“I will never leave you, sweetheart.” The bed moved slightly again. Steve blinked a few times and spotted Clint across from him settling into a chair. “Just me. Go back to sleep.” Steve blinked a few times more then shut his eyes again.

Clint and Steve were still sitting by her bed later that day when she began to move. Her left arm had gone numb so she flexed her right fingers and began to move that hand behind her. Amy grasped at air behind her back then again at her hip. Confused, she reached for her bedside table but it seemed like it wasn’t there. That’s when she began to panic. Still unable to feel her left arm due to what she realized now was a heavy weight lying on top of it, she began to reach out blindly for any type of weapon not just her sword which should have been strapped to her back. A strong, calloused hand captured hers as a second cupped her cheek.

“Open your eyes and look at me. You are safe here, please look at me.” Amy squeezed her eyes shut tightly and then slowly opened them. At first it was a bit blurry but then he came into focus. The first thing she saw was his light brown hair and light colored skin and that narrowed it down to about four of the Avengers: Tony, Peter, Clint, and Bucky. Then she realized how short the hair was and knocked Bucky out of the group. Then her eyes landed on his blue ones and that meant only one of those three. Clint.

“Where?” she started.

“At the compound. You’re safe,” he answered knowing she was asking where she was.

“What are—?” _you doing here?_

“Trying not to disappoint my kid.”

“My—” _arm, it hurts._

“Look to your left.”

Instead of doing that she stared up at him stunned. This time she didn’t even get a word out before he answered.

“I’m reading your mind? You’re projecting, loudly.” Sometimes if she wasn’t fully concentrating or was still half asleep she would project her thoughts out and anyone nearby could hear them without her prompting.

Amy finally turned her eyes from him to her left arm, letting them fall on the blond. “Is he—” This time she wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. Probably something along the lines of _out completely, fast asleep, okay._ Something.

“He hasn’t slept well. The soldier either. Nat was close to tranqing them both.” Amy’s face scrunched up then she sorta relaxed. She rotated her shoulders then tried to sit up. Clint’s hand on her cheek moved to press down on her shoulder. “Don’t. You’re not injured but you may not be strong enough.”

“Nothing feels wrong. And before you ask, it comes and it goes. Half of it feels like a dream and the other half, flashes so fast I can’t understand them.” She of course was talking about the past month and a half.

“Everyone would like to see you but of course the doctors first.” Clint let her shoulder go to leave the room.

“Dad,” she said softly keeping a tight grasp on his hand. He turned back. “Thanks.”

He stepped back over to her and kissed her forehead. He pulled back and looked at her. Then he smiled. “Sure, kid.” This time when he left, she let him go then turned to the man lying on her left arm. She ran a hand through his hair and like always, it never failed to surprise her how soft it was. She reached the crown of his head and scratched slightly which woke him.

“Morning, or is it afternoon?” she asked, pulling back her hand.

“I believe it’s afternoon. I’m glad you’re okay,” Steve answered sitting up.

“Was there any doubt?”

“With Tony, there always is.”

“That’s not his fault; he’s doing the best he can. Thanks though.”

“For what?”

She looked at him plainly. As she was more awake she went back to keeping her thoughts from broadcasting to everyone. “My arm, it’s now asleep.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“Where’s Bucky?”

“Showing your grandfather around.”

“Oh. Wait, my grand—oh boy. You’ve met my grandfather?” He didn’t look angry about it he just looked resigned. Almost as if he understood why she did it.

“About a couple weeks ago. Didn’t you think that was important?”

Then again maybe not as understanding as she hoped. “I didn’t want to bring it up and to be fair Buck’s had just as many opportunities to tell you as I did.” His shoulders slumped. Amy instantly felt bad. “Steve I—“

“No, point taken. I also could have asked. He’s your grandfather and bringing up who you’re related to especially here could look like you’re angling for favoritism.”

“I would never.”

“I know that. You get enough favoritism by being Clint’s kid and dating a 100 year old man.” Steve smirked and Amy rolled her eyes.

“He’s not quite a hundred.” Amy suddenly stopped. “Wait, what did you say about Clint? What Clint? Barton?”

“We know he’s your father. Dum-Dum kinda outed you on that.”

“Oh.” Amy tried to remember if she had been there to see it happen. “I don’t remember that. Was I there?”

“You were but you were also watching Cap-toons.” Steve could barely hold in his smile.

Amy covered her face with her hand. “Oh God. I forgot about those.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, they turned me into a cartoon.”

“Yeah but you had to deal with me being excited about it and most likely annoying about it.”

“Not so much. When FRIDAY couldn’t find them, you didn’t ask about it often.”

The door swung open and a doctor walked in. “Ms. Portland, Captain Rogers. Is everything alright in here?” a doctor asked.

Amy looked up at Steve and sighed. He nodded and she knew their conversation was over. So she answered the doctor. “My arm is tingling since he was laying on it, and I’ve got a massive headache and feel a bit dizzy but other than that, I feel great.” She smiled a tight lipped smile at the doctor.

“Dizzy?” He looked very concerned with her admission. “Do you know why?”

“I figure it’s got something to do with seeing all my memories at warp speed.”

“We’re going to run some scans, do some cognitive tests, and then if everything looks good, you’re free to go.”

His thoughts bloomed across her mind. That was so far from the truth Amy was sure she didn’t have to be a telepath to see it. “Don’t lie to me!” Amy roared.

Both Steve and the doctor stared at her. “Ms. Portland—” the doctor started.

“The Avengers have a saying: Never lie to a telepath. I am that telepath. I can read your mind. You’re not going to let me go until Steve and Tony say you can and they get their fill of tests.” Steve turned his attention from her to the doctor and could see it written on the doctor’s face.

“As soon as the doctor says you’re good, you’re good. No more tests, I promise,” Steve said.

Amy turned her eyes to the Captain and searched his thoughts. He was definitely standing behind that statement. “Thanks.”

“Captain,” the doctor tried.

“Make sure she’s okay but no unnecessary tests. And definitely no cutting into her,” Steve said.

“Understood,” the doctor agreed. Steve left the room and Amy noticed Clint in the doorway.

“Stay please?” she asked. Clint nodded. The doctor looked her over and drew some more blood before letting her know he was going to take her for a few head exams. After those exams she was wheeled back to her room and they waited as FRIDAY ran her own scans. “FRIDAY, am I okay?” 

“I’ve alerted Mr. Stark and Doctor Banner of the tests and your alertness, they will be down momentarily to speak with you. The doctor who had been examining you has been reassigned.”

“Because of Fury?”

“No.”

“But am I okay?” 

“Do you feel okay?” 

“Still a little dizzy and my arm still hurts but for the most part, yes, I feel okay. Now, please, FRIDAY, tell me the results.” 

“I am sorry; I am not allowed to answer that.” 

“Fine, I’ll just hack you.” 

“Stop threatening my AI,” Tony told her as he stepped into the room. “Bruce will tell you everything you want to know.” Said doctor followed the genius into the room. Amy appraised both, trying to see if she could figure out what she wanted to know before they opened their mouths.

“Your scans came back normal,” Bruce said.

She could believe that except for the glance that he shared with Tony. His face asked if they should tell her but his mind—she stopped her thoughts from reaching out. This was Bruce Banner she was thinking about. A mild-mannered scientist who was only trying to help her. He deserved a warning at least. “You’re the one Avenger I respect almost too much to pry into his mind, but I will do it,” Amy said softly. Clint squeezed her hand gently. He wanted to back her down a bit and give them a chance to go on. 

“When you were little we took a blood sample the day it happened and then one earlier in the day before we turned you back. They were identical. They shouldn’t have been. You can tell a person is aging by a blood sample. We took another to make sure afterwards and …” Bruce trailed off.

“Bruce, is what happened to me preventing me from aging?” Amy asked.

Bruce shifted his stance. “Not preventing, not anymore. It’s more like …” Bruce trailed off again and shared a look with Tony. Bruce removed his glasses to rub his nose wondering how to phrase the next sentence.

Luckily Tony took over for him. “Kit, you know how the super soldier serum slows the regeneration and decomposition of Steve’s and to a lesser extent, Bucky’s cells?” Tony questioned.

“That’s what’s happening to me? I’m not aging at a normal human rate?” Amy tried not to freak out. 

“No, you’re not. I’m sorry.” At Tony’s words, the beeps coming from the machine at Amy’s bed side increased in frequency as Amy’s heart rate skyrocketed.

“Amy, talk to me,” Clint said, cupping her cheek and trying to calm her. “What are you thinking?” Amy shook her head unable to comprehend what had happened. “Come on, focus. You can do it.”

Amy shook her head again, this time to clear her thoughts and bring them into order. “I always knew that if I didn’t die in battle that I’d watch most of you die around me, but I never thought that it would include Pietro, Wanda and Peter and maybe my own kids. Is there any way to reverse this?” Amy pleaded with both of the scientists to give her good news.

“I haven’t found one. I’m sorry,” Bruce explained regretfully.

Then her thoughts turned to the others. “What about the people in the riot? Was that connected? Are they alright?” Amy asked.

“We’ve had them checked out and they’re fine. We think it’s because the ray that hit you came from a different gun and that it wasn’t—” Bruce started but wasn’t sure how to finish.

“His intention was to make you really happy instead he turned you into a five year old,” Tony finished for him.

“I see. Other than that, I’m good to go?” she asked. Bruce’s mind instantly said yes but he looked at Tony without saying anything. Tony on the other hand was considering taking more samples and running more tests. She had to nip that in the bud quickly.

“No, Tony. I am not a lab rat. You’ll deal with what you have. Don’t make me force you,” Amy said.

“If you feel fine then yes you can go. There are some clothes on the chair,” Bruce said, nodding to said chair.

“Thank you,” Amy said. Bruce nodded and left the room. Tony reluctantly followed. Amy swung her legs over the edge of the bed and saw Clint trying to look collected. “Clint? Are you alright?” she asked.

“I don’t know. How can you be?” Clint asked. He subconsciously squeezed her hand, holding on to it like a lifeline.

Then she realized there was always the positive spin on this. “I get a longer life with Bucky. I get to enjoy him. I kept thinking _‘what’s going to happen when I’m 50 and he still looks 30? Or when I’m old and gray and he’s not?’_ Now I don’t have to worry about that. It will hurt when I lose you one day and if I ever have kids watching them turn old and gray before I do, but I have Bucky and that’s what’s important, right?”

“I guess. You always want your kids to outlive you, but like this? When you get to the point where living isn’t … what then?”

“Then we find a way to deal with it. We can do some real good with this and it’s not going to make me invincible or make me think I am. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Do you need help?” He motioned from her to the chair of clothes.

“I think I’ll be okay.” Clint nodded and left her alone. She changed from her hospital gown into Bucky’s t-shirt and a pair of her sweats. She stepped out of the room to see Bucky, Clint, Steve, Dugan, Trip, and General Jones.

“How do you feel?” Bucky asked.

“I’m fine. Pop.” Amy stepped across the hall and into Dugan’s welcoming arms.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he answered softly. He kissed the top of her head and held her close. “I love that little girl a whole lot, but I think I like this you a little bit better.”

“And that’s perfectly fine. I’m sorry I haven’t stayed in touch with you.”

“You’ve been in touch enough. I know you’re busy saving the world like I used to.” Amy took a deep breath and enjoyed this quiet moment between them. She missed this. Dugan gave her a tight squeeze.

“Agent Trip,” Amy said, pulling away from her grandfather. “I’m assuming you had something to do with calling him?” She turned to face the older agent.

“Of course I did, Squirt,” Trip answered smirking.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Four years, let it go. How’d you know something was wrong?” Amy stuffed her hands deep in her pockets.

“I call my grandfather once a month, he mentioned in a passing that Dum-Dum hadn’t heard from you, which was weird ‘cause you call your grandfather more often than I’ll call mine, so I checked your phone’s location and then spoke to the Colonel and when he reiterated his worry, I told Coulson that I was needed here.”

“You called Coulson and got him to reassign you?” Steve asked. Amy glanced at him for a moment then looked back at Trip who had turned to the Captain.

“No, I walked into his office and asked. Kinda hard for him to say no when I bring up a favor for the Commandos. I hate using it but it came in handy in this case,” Trip explained.

“Then you called my grandfather?” Amy pressed.

Trip turned back to her. He shook his head. “No, I called mine. As much as I don’t like to break bad news to my grandfather, I was not going to give Colonel Dugan that news.”

“Thank you. General.” Amy turned to the second older man standing next to her.

“Sweetheart, I’m glad you’re okay and that Sarge is treating you so well,” Jones told her.

Amy grinned and hugged him. “Thank you and thanks for coming out. I know it’s not as easy as it once was.”

“For you, darlin’, I make the effort.” Jones grinned.

“Thank you.” She hugged him gently again and looped her arm through his and her grandfather’s. “Will you stay for dinner? These guys could use some maturity and stories.” She looked from one commando to the other.

“Of course, darlin’,” Jones said.

“Pop?”

“Anything to spend more time with you,” Dugan added.

“FRIDAY, please invite Director Fury up for dinner. Ant, you’re staying too. Not a suggestion.”

“Whatever you say, Millie,” Trip answered.

Bucky spoke up for the first time though he kept his distance from Amy. “Barton, why don’t you escort our guests to the common room, Kobik and I need to have a talk,” he said.

“We can talk later, right now, I’m going to talk with my Pop,” Amy answered. Amy cocked an eyebrow at her grandfather who only stared her down. It wasn’t hard to tell he wanted her to talk to Bucky even if she didn’t want to.

“‘Melia,” Dugan warned. Yup, she had been right.

Time to suck it up and talk. “Fine,” she sighed. “Barton.” Clint nodded and he and Trip escorted the two men back to the living quarters. Amy looked up at Steve who gave her a half smile. Once she and Bucky were alone in the hallway, she looked up at him. His face showed nothing but concern and she felt bad. “Soldat, I …” she trailed off and shook her head.

“Tell me the truth, are you okay?” Bucky asked. He held himself back from touching her because of how uncomfortable she looked.

“Yes, I’m fine. No physical injuries,” she answered shortly.

“And the emotional ones?”

Amy took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I’m not in the headspace to talk right now. I know you want to break this down and help me out but right now I need to think and process it a little more. I never pushed when it came to the soldier stuff, please don’t push me now.” They had agreed to hold off on talking about something if the other person wasn’t in the headspace to listen or be supportive. It cut down on the number of fights they had and it increased their meaningful conversations.

“I would never push you. I understand that you’re not ready, but I just want you to know I’m here for you and I love you.” He crossed the hallway and wrapped his arms around him.

“I love you too.” Amy leaned into his arms and he held her tight. Bucky took a deep breath and slowly let it out. The scent of apple blossoms was weak from her hair. “Now, can I go talk to my grandpa?” Bucky let her go and took her hand. He laced their fingers together and walked down the hall towards the Common Room with her following.

Dinner that night was filled with stories. Most of them from WWII though some were about Amy and Trip’s childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I totally thought when I posted the last chapter that this would be the final chapter but it turns out this got away from me and went from 11 to 15 or so pages. I cut this chapter back to 9 and put the rest in the next and final chapter.


	14. Wrap Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because every good plot needs to be wrapped up.

Two days later, after Dugan and Jones left, Amy found Bucky in their room at the compound, staring at some baking show on TV. The room wasn’t overly large, just right for two people, with an attached bathroom and a queen sized bed custom made to hold not only his weight but also his length. The dark blue bedspread was offset by pale walls and complemented by the dark cherry wood furniture around it. In Amy’s opinion the best part of the room was the window seat that looked over the lawn. Bucky on the other hand loved how many bookcases she had requested then filled with books of all kinds of subjects. Amy smiled softly as she leaned against the doorway then she noticed he was more staring at the TV and wasn’t actually watching it. “Buck?” she asked softly. He looked away from the TV at her and saw her arms were wrapped around a small teddy bear. One who looked like her Bucky Bear, the one she had carried around frequently as a child, but there was something different about this one. She saw his gaze and smirked. “You recognize him?” she asked. Bucky muted the TV as he studied the bear.

“Not exactly?”

She smiled down at the bear. “Aunt Peggy gave me this one. In the hospital. The original Bucky Bear. He was made in ‘44. Sold like wildfire when the news reported on Cap and his Commandos. Somehow, Howard Stark managed to get his hands on the very first one ever made. For some reason it ended up with Aunt Peggy and she gave it to me after they rescued us.”

Now Bucky recognized it. “He’s usually on a shelf in your room.” Her room at the Tower and not the Compound. They had separate rooms at the Tower on Bucky’s insistence but when they visited the Compound they shared since it wasn’t often and they weren’t there for long.

“I had Stark overnight him last night.”

“Feeling vulnerable?”

“A little.” Bucky held his hand out but she didn’t move towards him. “You know for the last several months I’ve been dreaming about this little girl, chasing her and hearing her laugh but not being able to reach her. I always thought I was seeing our little girl and she was trying to tell me something.” Bucky nodded understandingly. She had mentioned the dream occasionally. Neither could figure out what the dream meant, though they figured it was Amy’s biological clock ticking. “I don’t think that’s what it was.”

“You don’t think she’s our little girl?”

“No.” Amy crossed the room and sat down next to him on the bed. She stared down at the bear in her arms for a moment. “I think she is me. I mean she looks like I did when I was little and she’s running and laughing. I think she’s trying to get me to come to terms with what happened. I think back on the last two months and then about my life since capture and I don’t think I’ve come to terms with it. I think I’ve been pushing that part of me down further and further and she’s trying to make me reconcile the two sides.”

Bucky cocked his head. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Amy took a deep breath then looked up at him. “For the past month and a half you saw what I was like when I was little; a happy kid with very few outbursts or tantrums. The me from after the rescue is nothing like that. I’m moody and stubborn and pushy and I don’t remember the last time I was truly happy. I also don’t think I’ve fully moved past what happened to me. I know that it is not my fault and that I couldn’t have stopped what happened. I also got you out of their control a lot sooner than I think you would have gotten out if I didn’t insist we take you, but I keep thinking _‘Why did this happen to me? Could someone have prevented it? What if my life was different and they didn’t save me?’_ I know it’s not good to think like that but sometimes I can’t help it. I think seeing that little girl in my dreams and going through what I did, it’s trying to remind me that bad stuff does happen but you have to enjoy the good stuff too.”

“And now that you’re processing all this, what does that mean?” Bucky asked.

Amy tried to paint a smile on her face but it only came out as a grimace. Bucky flipped his hand over and rested it on his leg nearest her. Amy looked at it then released the bear with one hand and linked her hand with Bucky’s. He slowly rubbed his thumb across her knuckles hoping he was giving her the strength she needed. “Maybe we can move forward with our lives. Maybe I can put that part of my past behind me and I won’t keep doing things to prove something but rather because I care.”

“We all know you care.”

“I know, but if someone asked you my motivation, would it be because I care or because I have to prove something? It’d be the latter. You know it would.”

“Maybe.” They sat in relative silence watching the baking show continue. Bucky looked her over and noticed her hair was still ginger. “Are you going to dye your hair again?” As much as Bucky had loved the ginger on the little girl it was a little disconcerting on the adult.

“Maybe. Does it bother you?” While she wasn’t looking at him, Bucky could tell she was nervous and it almost seemed like she was trying to gage his opinion before making her choice. He remembered one of the first things his therapist had told him after his US vs. The Winter Soldier trial: _“you have to focus on yourself to get better but if you want to help that little girl then your best option is to make her stronger, more confident and that starts with supporting her decisions even if you know in your very bones that they are the worst decisions she can make. Let her be confident in making them and that will help.”_ Bucky put on a brave face.

“It’s your decision. My opinion …” Bucky trailed off. Amy nodded. While it true he wanted her to make her own decisions no matter what he thought of them, he knew an open and honest conversation was better for their relationship. It was something she had insisted on. “I thought you were Nat yesterday when you were talking to Clint on the couch.”

This time her smile was genuine. “I’m thinking a little strawberry blonde. Mixing both but still more blonde than red though on the plus side I can still hold my title of Hawk-Widow’s daughter.”

“What?” He had heard several rumors around the compound and within SHIELD during his assignments with them, but he had never heard that title ever used.

“One of the rumors that started around here was that I was the daughter of Black Widow and Hawkeye. That I was what happened in Budapest.”

_Ah, the famed Budapest mission._ What had happened there was so closely guarded not even Bucky, with his top-level clearance, knew the details. That, and how Fury lost his left eye. They were about the only two secrets he didn’t know. “Are you what happened in Budapest?”

Amy’s head jerked up as she stared at him, wide-eyed. “What do you think, that they got away from their assignments and Clint knocked Nat up? As close as they are, that would never happen. On top of that, Nat can’t have kids, not biologically. Part of her graduation from the Red Room. So the only other two options were that they found a little girl and took her in or that Hawkeye knocked up some woman and they were sent to recover me and place me in a semi-ordinary family under the watchful eye of Dum-Dum Dugan and the Howling Commandos. Not possible either. Budapest happened in ‘93, I was born in ‘91. Director Carter, General Jones, Director Fury, Happy Sam, Pinky, and Morita were all there when I was born. Hell, even Howard and Tony Stark were there. His dad dragged him, I think. But all of that is super confidential. I’m not supposed to tell you any of it.”

“I see, but that doesn’t knock out the fact that Clint could have found you as a two year old wandering around Budapest and taken you in.”

“While he was on an official SHIELD mission? That’s a breach of security. Or a terrible idea, probably both.”

“He took in both Nat and the twins while he was on official business.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what happened.” Amy answered shaking her head.

“Do you know what happened in Budapest?” Bucky asked.

“No. Even I’m not privy to that information unless I dig around in their minds and from what I hear, they remember it very differently.”

“Speaking of your birth ...” Bucky trailed off.

“What of it?” Amy asked.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me Clint was your dad? What happened to being honest?”

“Do I know every one of your secrets? No, I don’t. I love you, Soldat, but it wasn’t important. How did you find out? I didn’t know it when I was that little and I haven’t heard anyone mention it.”

“Dum-Dum. He outed that too when—before we turned you back. Said he would have appreciated a call from Clint and when Clint responded it was “my girlfriend, my problem”, Dum-Dum told him that it was “your daughter, your problem”. I was shocked to say the least. I mean you do kinda look like him but I never figured he’d be the parental type despite how well he took to you and the twins.”

“He’s not often the parental type; it’s why I stayed with his brother and his family during the trial. Clint wasn’t sure how to handle it and his brother had been married a few years. His kids hadn’t been born yet but Clint and Barney both thought it would be good practice. Coop was born a few years later, Lila a few years after that. They just had a new little one to. Named him after Piet and Nat.”

“I see.” 

Amy dyed her hair later that afternoon and once it was dry, she went to find Thor feeling like she owed him an explanation.

“Thor,” she said, spotting him in the common room playing video games.

“Lady Amelia, please sit. I am almost through racing the carts.” Thor said. Amy smiled and sat down next to him. When he was through, she smiled at him. “I see you’re feeling better. Brother will be most pleased to hear. He was rather worried.”

“I’m certain he was. I wanted to explain myself to you.”

“There is nothing to explain, my lady.”

“I think there is. It had nothing to do with your magic or not liking you. She liked you a lot and you reminded her of a fluffy Labrador. It’s a dog often—”

“Yes, I know what a Labrador is.”

Amy smiled. “When I was little I lived with my grandfather. He fought with Steve and Bucky in the war and thunderstorms and lightning flashes reminded him of gunfire and mortar fire. It’s not pleasant. Little kids can tell when others are upset even if they don’t know why. I knew my Pop didn’t like storms and because of that I didn’t either. Then I was taken and put in this really small cell with one really tiny window. It got sunshine but a lot of the time the only light was from the lightning flashes. Eventually, I became less afraid of them.”

“Really, my lady, it is fine. Not everyone is impressed by or likes my light shows. I should remember that. My brother reminded me of that when the incident occurred. I do deeply apologize for scaring you. Even in Asgard we do our best to protect children.”

“‘Cept maybe your brother.”

“I know he didn’t have the easiest childhood, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t loved or protected.”

“I know. Thank you for everything you did for her. I know she appreciated it.”

“Of course. She was a very sweet kid.” Amy reached over to hug him and he wrapped her in a protective hug. One hand cradled the back of her head as the other rubbed her back. “Talk to Loki, he misses you,” he whispered in her ear.

Loki wasn’t the first one she found when she left Thor’s side. Instead it was Sam. “Sam.”

“Amy,” Sam answered. He looked from the paperwork he was doing on the conference room table.

“I want to say thank you for everything. You did such a good job with me. I am so grateful for everything. Especially while Steve and Bucky were gone. You made some tough decisions and kept me safe.”

“It’s what friends do.” 

“But still, you didn’t have to. And then we came to the compound and I spent more time with Clint than I did with you. It probably didn’t feel good.”

“I understood. He’s like a big kid himself. Anyone would have fun with him.”

“That doesn’t diminish what you did for me.”

“I would never say it did.”

“Sam, really, thanks.”

“Anytime, just next time, maybe it’ll be your kid instead of you. Not that you weren’t fun but I don’t want to see another one of my teammates that little unless it’s in pictures.”

“Deal.” Amy hugged him gently then thanked Steve, Wanda, Nat, and Clint before finally finding Loki. He was on one of the upper floors, staring out a window that overlooked the outdoor track. “Hello, your highness,” Amy said softly as she approached him.

“About time, Little Wolf,” he responded not looking at her.

“Yes well I kept running into the Avengers. You never realize how many of them there are until you find everyone except the one you’re looking for.”

“Not exactly an Avenger.”

“Not the point. Stop it,” she demanded.

“Stop what?” This time he did turn his head to look at her with the most imploring look.

“Feeling guilty, you did nothing wrong. You had no way of knowing what was happening and I’m sure when you found out you did everything you could to fix it even if it was Tony’s reverse engineering that eventually did the job.”

“Maybe. Come to Asgard. See my mother.” Of course he would change the subject as he looked back out the window. Amy did her best not to roll her eyes.

“Last time I was in Asgard—”

“I was being punished.”

“And I caused a galactic incident.” 

“That wasn’t your fault. It could have been so much worse.”

“I’ll be fine here. You know that.”

“You’d get treated better.”

“My grandfather taught me two things when I was a little girl. First and most importantly, it’s fine to be a princess, it’s even better to be a warrior. There is nothing saying you can’t be both.”

“I see. And second?”

“And second, when you find that man you want to spend the rest of your life with, he should treat you like the queen of his world. Anyone who wants to treat you like a damsel in distress most of the princesses are portrayed as, isn’t the kind of person you want to be around.”

“I would never treat you like that. You are too fierce to be anything but the warrior I’ve come to care about.”

“I know. Something else I was taught was from my aunt Peg. She said, ‘Child, know your value and what you deserve, and don’t you dare let anyone else’s opinion matter. That is one of the reasons I don’t need to know if that Hammer thinks I’m worthy. I know I am.”

“I see.”

“We may share a connection that I value and treasure so much that I think I would not be able to deal with losing it, but my heart …” Amy shook her head. “My heart will always belong to the man who believes he will never deserve it.”

“Well, I can always hope that you will change your mind,” Loki answered.

“It’s not my mind that has to change.”

“Of course. He is one lucky man.”

“He doesn’t think so. Or maybe he does. Either way, I was lucky to find him.”

Loki let the silence hang for a few moments as they both stared out the window. “For you. Because of the one I couldn’t give you the other day.” He waved a hand and a small stuffed dragon appeared in the palm of his hand.

“You wanted to give me a dragon?”

“You don’t remember it all?”

“It’s coming back and the security feeds are helping but I don’t remember everything. Not by myself. Most of what I remember is from others.” Amy shook her head.

“Like most of the things in your life.” He didn’t sound like he was judging her just stating a fact.

“I’d be lost without my powers.”

“Do they know that?”

“Maybe. I try not to mention it but there have been a few times when I’ve been in on an inside joke that I shouldn’t have knowledge of. It makes things awkward and I don’t know how to stop it.”

“I created a small dragon from seidr to impress you because you were sad you couldn’t do it but I couldn’t let you keep it—“

“Because he wasn’t real,” Amy finished for him. “He was the same color though.” Amy plucked the dragon from his hands. She looked over the small dragon and booped his nose with her own. “Thank you. I’d hug you but I was right about something, princes are picky about hugs.”

“Never from you,” Loki answered. He turned to face her and opened his arms. Amy grinned and stepped into them, winding her arms around him in a hug which he warmly returned.

Amy pulled back. “To be honest, I prefer this over the puppy you created. He was fun but the dragon was cooler. Besides, I already have a couple puppies around here.”

“You do?”

“Thor, Pietro, Steve occasionally. Thank you though. I appreciate any time I get to spend with you. I know it won’t always be like this. Not unless—“

“Don’t think about that. Not right now.” Amy nodded and they went their separate ways.

Amy sent Tony a gift basket as a thanks and then hugged him when she saw him two months later. He checked her over with Bruce’s help only to find the same results they had when they had tested her before. No problems other than slowed aging.

“Suit up, we need all hands on deck,” Steve said as all three left the med bay. It was going to be just another normal day with the Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter kinda got away from me but there you have it. I hope you enjoyed reading this entire story. 
> 
> I would appreciate some feedback, let me know how I did, if you'd like to see a continuation or maybe a different story with the same characters? I'll take all suggestions under advisement.
> 
> Remember all images used in or relavant to this story can be found here:  
> https://www.pinterest.com/captowens87/pins/


End file.
